Taiwan’s National Palace Museum is making preparations for how to protect its artwork in case of a military invasion. National Palace Museum Director Wu Mi-cha spoke with lawmakers on Monday and said that the museum will devise new safety plans and run drills in July.
The National Palace Museum is home to nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artwork, making it one of the largest Chinese art museums in the world. Lawmakers questioned the museum’s precautions after witnessing Ukraine struggle to get its own precious artifacts to safety while under attack by Russia.
Wu says that the museum has already held many drills in the event of natural disasters like floods, fires, and earthquakes. However, the museum has not finalized a procedure for air raids and does not have a designated location to hide the artwork during an invasion.
Wu says that the museum will come up with new plans for this kind of emergency over the next three months, and start test runs in July. He also says that the National Palace Museum will consult with the International Council of Museums to see how it can support Ukraine and its artists during the invasion.