Committee quashes island heritage site petitionFINDING: As Turtle Island no longer has permanent residents, after they were relocated to Toucheng Township in 1974, it does not meet the requirements for a heritage siteBy Lin Ching-lun and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerA petition to recognize Yilan County’s Turtle Island (Gueishan Island, 龜山島) as a county-level cultural heritage site was turned down by a review committee on Friday. The Yilan County Cultural Affairs Bureau that month visited the island for a preliminary investigation. A boat casts off in Yilan County on Feb. 11, with Turtle Island (Gueishan Island) in the distance. Three years later, the Ministry of National Defense took over Turtle Island and closed it to visitors, installing artillery and building tunnels there. Separately, a Toucheng Township fisheries’ official, Chen Hsiu-nuan (陳秀暖), said that Turtle Island already has certain protections that limit development on the island.

Source: Taipei Times May 17, 2020 15:56 UTC