Two statues donated by actor Jackie Chan to a newly opened museum in Taiwan were splashed with paint and daubed with anti-China slogans, reflecting growing tensions over Beijing’s influence on the island.
Asia
Date: November 14, 2016
By: AFP
Statues donated by pro-Beijing actor Jackie Chan to a top Taiwanese museum and later defaced by
Photo: AFP
anti-China protesters have been removed from display, officials said Monday, in a further sign of ties between the neighbours deteriorating.
Workers began to move the set of 12 zodiac animal sculptures from the garden of the National Palace Museum’s southern branch in the presence of several lawmakers from the ruling Beijing-sceptic Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who had backed their removal.
The sculptures are copies of high-profile historic artefacts from China’s Qing Dynasty and are seen on the mainland as emblematic of the country’s suffering under foreign invaders.
The originals of the statues were looted from Beijing’s Summer Palace in 1860 by British and French troops. [FULL STORY]
