TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s National Military Museum is expected to open in August next year and will focus on the history of the national army, the military history of Taiwan’s ancestors, and the preservation of military relics, the defense ministry said.
In a statement provided to Taiwan News on Friday (Sept. 6), the defense ministry said the museum’s research, collections and displays will create a “world-class” venue for all ages with an international perspective.
“In addition to presenting the history of the founding of the national army, it will also integrate the achievements of modern military building,” the ministry said.
This will include themes of national defense independence, military and civil defense, Taiwan’s military dependents’ villages, and others, it said.
Some have expressed concerns the museum will emphasize the military’s founding in China and the wars it fought there before it fled to Taiwan, while overlooking other parts of Taiwan's military history.
In this regard, the ministry said the museum will also present “the historical facts related to Taiwan’s ancestors’ resistance to foreign aggression.” This could relate to the Japanese colonial period (1895-1949), or Dutch colonialism (1624-1662 and 1664-1668) before that, but the ministry did not provide specifics on what would be included.
The defense ministry said it had studied the practices of foreign military museums while planning the project. The museum will also include items that were previously in storage, alongside interactive experiences and modern military technologies.
The budget for the military museum has increased several times since the project was announced in 2015. On Sept. 4, the defense ministry said the budget had increased to NT$5.326 billion (US$165.4 million), up from the original NT$1.76 billion slated for the museum when work began.
The museum is being built on a site in Taipei’s Dazhi and will replace the Armed Forces Museum in Zhongzheng District which was closed in 2021.
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