Taipei’s National Palace Museum has given the go-ahead to an exhibition of artifacts at the Tokyo National Museum. That’s after the two sides resolved a snafu over the wording on the official posters for the event.
The National Palace Museum and the foreign ministry had both threatened to cancel the exhibition when it was discovered that some of the promotional materials were missing the word “national” in the name “National Palace Museum.” That’s particularly sensitive, because Japan and many other countries view Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China, instead of being ruled separately as the Republic of China.
Workers replaced 46 large posters in stations along the JR train line in Tokyo by early Monday morning. Taipei’s representative office in Tokyo then verified that the posters had been corrected, paving the way for the exhibition to take place.
National Palace Museum Director Fung Ming-Chu left for Tokyo on Monday morning to participate in the exhibition’s opening later that afternoon. She spoke briefly about her trip as she prepared to board her flight at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
“In addition to participating in the opening, I have another important goal," said Fung. "I believe that the Tokyo National Museum owes the people of Taiwan an apology, because for years the people of Taiwan have trusted and had a lot of goodwill towards Japan. We regret what has happened. I have gotten very little sleep over the last three days, dealing with this day and night, because it has taken us some time to discover all of the [problems].”
Tokyo National Museum Director Zeniya Masami began his speech at the opening, by offering an apology to the people of Taiwan.
He said that the opportunity to exhibit the artifacts from Taipei’s National Palace Museum and share them with a larger audience, was something worth celebrating. This is the first time that the museum’s revered “Jadeite Cabbage” is being exhibited outside of Taiwan.
In her speech, Director Fung responded by saying that the apology had reinstated the trust and goodwill that the people of Taiwan have for Japan.
Meanwhile, First Lady Chou Mei-ching, who was originally scheduled to travel to Japan for the opening ceremony, has indefinitely postponed her trip.