TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The National Palace Museum (NPM) will now demand from suppliers that souvenirs are made in Taiwan and not in China, officials said Wednesday (Oct. 19).
The statement followed a complaint from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Fan Yun (范雲), who found that a bookmark modeled on the museum’s famous Jadeite Cabbage had been designed in Taiwan but manufactured in China, CNA reported.
She sent an aide to the museum shop to take a look at the other souvenirs, and came to the conclusion that between 20% and 25% of the objects had been made in China. Looking back at past Legislative Yuan questions on the issue, Fan said the same remark had already been made as far back as 2009, but the museum had not addressed the issue.
Tourists from China, Japan, and the United States who bought souvenirs and then found out they had been made in China would have confused feelings, according to Fan. She demanded a timetable for an end to the sale of Chinese-made souvenirs.
NPM Director Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) said that, in future, contracts with suppliers of souvenirs for the museum would include a requirement that they were made in Taiwan.
