Taiwan’s leading museum said yesterday it will remove statues donated by actor Jackie Chan that were attacked by anti-China protesters late last year, as relations sour between the island and Beijing
A defaced horse statue
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Taipei: Taiwan’s leading museum said yesterday it will remove statues donated by actor Jackie Chan that were attacked by anti-China protesters late last year, as relations sour between the island and Beijing.
The set of 12 zodiac animal sculptures sit in the garden of the National Palace Museum’s southern branch and are copies, seen on the mainland as emblematic of China’s past suffering under foreign invaders. The originals of the statues were looted from Beijing’s Old Summer Palace in 1860 by Anglo-French troops.
Hong Kong actor Chan has drawn criticism in the past for his pro-Beijing remarks. Two of the bronze statues were defaced with red paint last December in Chiayi county.
The museum said it planned to move the artwork after consulting with the public who expressed concerns over its political sensitivity as well as questioning its artistic value.
“Everyone from architects, domestic collectors, the art world, to media think they should be removed,” Lin Jeng-yi, the museum’s director, said in a legislative session.
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