Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) Gaining U.N. membership would allow Taiwan to include its 12 nominations on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List, the head of the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) said Saturday.
U.N. membership is a prerequisite for a country to nominate its natural and cultural heritage sites for inclusion on UNESCO's World Heritage List because only signatories to the State Parties of the World Heritage Convention are allowed to submit nominations, CCA Chairwoman Wong Chin-chu said.
"Lack of U.N. membership limits Taiwan's international space not only in politics but also in terms of cultural exchanges and cultural heritage preservation," she said.
A group of international scholars and experts were commissioned by the CCA in 2003 to inspect, survey and review potential cultural heritage sites in Taiwan. The list they came up with includes 12 sites around the island, and it can be submitted to the World Heritage Committee any time, Wong said.
Wong urged the people of Taiwan and the presidential candidates of the opposition Kuomintang and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to support Taiwan's U.N. membership bid for the sake of Taiwan's cultural assets preservation.
The 12 sites are Fort San Domingo in Tamsui and surrounding historical buildings, the Datun volcanic group, Jin-qua-shi community, Kinmen and Liehyu, Chilan-shan cypress forest, the old mountain line railway, Taroko volcanic group, Yushan National Park, Alishan forest railway, Peinan and Mount Dulan, Orchid Island, and Penghu columnar basalt nature reserve.