![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="318" height="62"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
The University of Edinburgh is to return the skulls of four Paiwan Aborigines who were killed in 1874, following requests from the central government, Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) Mayor Pan Chuang-chih (潘壯志) said on Friday.
Japanese soldiers originally took the skulls as war trophies when they fought Paiwan Aborigines in retaliation for the killing of Ryukyuan sailors in the Mudan Incident, Pan told a news conference in Mudan.
The remains changed hands twice before reaching the university in the same year, Pan said, adding that if the institution returns the skulls as planned, it would be the first time that human remains were repatriated to Taiwan.
The conference was held to discuss how the return would be handled to meet the traditions and wishes of the Paiwan community.
The Mudan Incident stemmed from the killing of Ryukyuan sailors, who were shipwrecked off the southern coast of Taiwan in 1871 while returning to Miyako Island after paying annual tribute to the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Naha. When the 66 people aboard the vessel entered Paiwan territory, they were attacked due to a misunderstanding, and 54 were killed.
The Japanese government sought compensation from the Qing court for the killings, but the court said that the incident was out of its hands. Japan then used the incident to challenge Qing sovereignty over Taiwan and in May 1874 sent a naval force to attack the Paiwan in retaliation.
During the conference, Pan reiterated his proposals to the Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Ministry of Culture to build a memorial museum for the incident in the township, saying that hopefully on the 150th anniversary of the incident in 2024, people would have a proper venue to learn about this important chapter in Taiwanese history.
Pingtung Cultural Affairs Department Director Wu Ming-jung (吳明榮) said that the department’s program to teach local people about the incident has ended, with more than 100 participants finishing the courses and activities in the nearly one-month training program.
These people are to volunteer to take visitors on tours of the historical locations related to the incident, as well as to teach them about local stories, in an effort to preserve the county’s tangible and intangible cultural assets, Wu said.
UNDER PRESSURE: Not only are Taiwan playing three days in a row, but the day after a night game they must play against Cuba at noon Sports fans in Taiwan have embraced the return of the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but have recently complained about how games are scheduled, saying it is unfair to Taiwan’s team. Taiwan is hosting Pool A — which also includes Cuba, Italy, the Netherlands and Panama — of the long-awaited fifth WBC competition, delayed from 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Japan and the US are the other two host nations, with two teams from each of the four pools advancing to the quarter-finals, which start on March 15. Fans have vented on sports Web sites and in media reports, saying that the hosts
PRIORITIZE DETERRENCE: Taiwan does not need to be in a military spending race with China if it possesses asymmetric combat capabilities, a top researcher said China is aiming for domination of the Western Pacific, and preparing for the annexation of Taiwan, a military analyst in Taipei said yesterday, after China announced a military budget of 1.56 trillion yuan (US$225.83 billion) for this year. The budget, announced yesterday at the 14th National People’s Congress in Beijing, represents a 7.2 percent increase from last year, and is 11 times that of Taiwan’s annual defense budget of NT$586.3 billion (US$19.14 billion). Taiwan’s defense budget this year accounts for 2.4 percent of its GDP, and the focus of defense spending is on the development of domestically produced aircraft and naval vessels,
Six cheerleaders from a Taiwanese professional baseball team, the Rakuten Monkeys, are heading to New York in August to perform at the annual Taiwan Day put on by the New York Mets. Known as the Rakuten Girls, the Taiwanese cheerleaders are to appear at the Mets’ home park, Citi Field, on Aug. 27 to highlight Taiwan’s unique baseball cheerleading culture during the 18th annual “Mets Taiwan Day.” The ceremonial first pitch of this year’s celebration is to be thrown by Taiwanese baseball commentator Tseng Wen-cheng (曾文誠) before a game between the Mets and the Los Angeles Angels. Mets Asian Development and Services account
A direct flight service between Taiwan and the Czech Republic is expected to be launched in July, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said on Friday. The new route would have two regular flights per week between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague, Wang told lawmakers during a legislative interpellation session. Taiwan has already received commercial aviation rights for the route, while the applications for each flight information region are still in progress, Wang said. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications and China Airlines, Taiwan’s main carrier, have mulled the establishment of direct flights between the two
RSS