Milestones of ROC diplomatic history are being showcased in a rare exhibition at Taipei’s National Palace Museum, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aug. 8.
To mark the ROC centennial, a collection of historical documents including diplomatic treaties, agreements, letters and hand-drawn maps are on display from Aug. 9 to Feb. 6, 2012, MOFA said.
“The archives being exhibited bear witness to the resilience of the ROC and our relentless efforts in securing the nation’s benefits and dignity,” Foreign Minister Timothy Chin-tien Yang said at a news conference marking the opening of the event.
Most of the exhibits have never been available to the public before, a MOFA official said.
Important documents on display include the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895, which ended the first Sino-Japanese War and ceded Taiwan to Japan; the Cairo Declaration of 1943, with which the ROC, along with the U.S. and the U.K., declared war on Japan; and the Potsdam Declaration, which called in 1945 for Japan’s surrender.
Other valuable documents date back well over a century. Notable agreements include the Treaty of Nanking of 1842, which marked the end of the first Opium War between the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) and Great Britain by ordering the cession of Hong Kong and opening five of China’s coastal cities to international trade.
A total of 88 original items have been selected from the more than 3,000 documents and artifacts in MOFA’s diplomatic archives, according to the museum. (THN)
Write to Kwangyin Liu at kwangyin.liu@mail.gio.gov.tw