Groups urge respect for replica vesselBy Hung Jui-chin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerAdvocates of a replica of a 17th-century merchant ship on display in Tainan on Wednesday said that comments calling for the troubled piece to be burned exposed an attitude against cultural heritage among politicians. An Anping resident surnamed Lin (林) said that the ship is the only reproduction of a vessel from that era. Tainan Citizen Thinktank, a non-governmental organization, said that the city should not shy away from spending money to improve maintenance of the Taiwan Cheng Kung. The replica was unseaworthy because, among other issues, not enough research was done of the building process for such vessels, the think tank said. The culture department said that the Taiwan Cheng Kung has not “expired” and the city government is maintaining it.

Source: Taipei Times July 16, 2021 15:56 UTC