Mainland welcomes Taiwan museum cooperation

The State Council Taiwan Affairs office welcomed discussions between Beijing’s Palace Museum and Taipei’s National Palace Museum regarding joint exhibitions, state media reported. Taipei’s National Palace Museum is known for its collection of approximately 600,000 artifacts taken from Beijing’s Forbidden City in 1949 by the Kuomintang and shipped to Taiwan. The two museums have never had joint exhibitions, but did collaborate on a book, "The Best of National Treasures", about their respective collections. Beijing’s Palace Museum has agreed to lend 17 items to Taipei for a special exhibition about Qing dynasty Emperor Yongzheng (1678-1735).