Draft:Potential World Heritage Sites in Taiwan

Taiwan's Potential World Heritage Sites have been selected as potential "World Heritage" sites by the Council for Cultural Affairs, Executive Yuan, the predecessor of the Ministry of Culture, since 2002. There are 18 sites, including 11 cultural heritage, five natural heritage, and two composite heritage sites.

According to the Convention on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage formulated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1972, world heritage refers to heritage items with significant cultural or natural value to all humankind.

Cultural heritage typically includes historical monuments (e.g., buildings, sculptures, inscriptions), building complexes, and ruins (e.g., archaeological sites). Natural heritage refers to natural landforms, geology, and natural geographical structures with special material and biological value (e.g., habitats of endangered animals and plants) or is significant from a scientific, conservation, and natural beauty perspective. After the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 was passed on October 25, 1971, the Republic of China lost its status as a member state of the United Nations and could not ratify the convention. Therefore, the country's natural and cultural relics are not eligible for the World Heritage List.

To match the pace of current global trends, the Council for Cultural Affairs began to select Taiwan's world heritage potential sites in 2002. In 2003, the first collection of 12 Taiwanese potential World Heritage sites was announced, including Taroko National Park, Cilan Mountain Cypress Forest, Beinan Cultural Park and Mount Dulan, Alishan Forest Railway, Kinmen Islands, Tatun Volcano Group, Orchid Island Settlement and natural landscapes, Fort San Domingo and its surrounding historical buildings, Jinguashi Settlement, Penghu Columnar Basalt Nature Reserve, Former Mountain Line (Taiwan Railway), and Yushan National Park. In 2009, "Kinmen Islands" merged with Matsu to form "Kinmen and Matsu Battlefield Culture." Five other Taiwanese potential World Heritage sites were announced, including Lo-Sheng Sanatorium and Hospital, Taoyuan Terrace Pond, Wushantou Dam, Chianan Irrigation, Pingtung Paiwan Slate House Settlement, Penghu Stone Fish Weirs. In 2010, "Kinmen and Matsu Battlefield Culture" was split into "Kinmen Battlefield Culture" and "Matsu Battlefield Culture." In 2011, "Jinguashi Settlement" was renamed "Shuijinjiu Mining Site." "Pingtung Paiwan Slate House Settlement" was renamed "Paiwan and Rukai Slate House Settlement." In 2012, "Taoyuan Terrace Pond" was renamed "Taoyuan Plateau." The "Paiwan and Rukai Slate House Settlement" was renamed the "Paiwan Tribe and Rukai Tribe Slate House Settlement in 2013."

The government faces political hurdles to make Taiwan's potential World Heritage Sites become World Heritage Sites. Local governments and scholars have proposed that Taiwan and Mainland China jointly apply for World Heritage and file cross-border and cross-regional applications for World Heritage. However, it is challenging to put such suggestions into practice. Political factors have caused Taiwan's lack of participation in World Heritage, leading to a gap in public perceptions of World Heritage. The Council for Cultural Affairs established the World Heritage Promotion Committee in 2009 to determine a cross-agency cooperation mechanism and hold regular meetings to discuss decisions. Moreover, the Council for Cultural Affairs has also guided the establishment of local-level cross-agency promotion committees, subsidized local governments to promote plan implementation, held cross-agency coordination meetings, and handled marketing promotion plans. Concerning laws and regulations, the Ministry of Culture announced in 2014 the Guidelines for the Selection and Delisting of Taiwan's World Heritage Potential Sites, which will be amended and published in 2022 as the criteria and implementation principles for selecting and delisting potential sites.