DIPLOMATIC OFFERINGS: The gifts offer viewers access to the cultural and natural landscapes of Central and South America, as well as islands in the South Pacific

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 21, 2018
By: Su Yung-yao  /  Staff reporter

A regular exhibition held by Academia Historica, “Gifts to the Presidents,” displays the presents that the nation’s presidents have received on diplomatic occasions, which opens a window on the cultural heritages of the nation’s allies.

The diplomatic gifts are national assets that are documented by the Presidential Office and sent to Academia Historica for preservation and the institution has select certain items for the public exhibition, the office said.

The exhibited gifts offer viewers access to the cultural and natural landscapes of Central and South America, as well as islands in the South Pacific, where most of the nation’s 20 diplomatic allies are located.

On Double Ten National Day in 2011, for example, then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) received from then-Guatemalan president Alvaro Colom a replica memorial that is reminiscent of the ancient Maya civilization, La Estela de Dos Pilas, which is recognized as a very respectful gift.    [FULL  STORY]