TAIPEI: Replicas of the "jadeite cabbage", made on the mainland, were removed from the shelves of the souvenir shop yesterday at Taiwan's "National Palace Museum".

The jadeite carving in the shape of a Chinese cabbage is a replica of an artifact from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) palace collection. It's one of the best known pieces in the collection and replicas have been popular with visitors, especially those from the mainland.

But Kuomintang legislator Chiang Lien-fu called attention to the "Made in China" label in the Legislative Yuan Tuesday, saying the fact the souvenirs are made on the mainland disappoints tourists and conflicts with government policy of helping local industries.

"The government can't make private enterprises to source in Taiwan. But at least public institution should use Taiwan products only," he said.

The museum management quickly responded that all of its 66 suppliers are Taiwan companies and only 1 percent of the products in the souvenir shops are manufactured on the mainland.

According to the museum, there are 81 types of miniature cabbages. Two come from the mainland. They are priced at NT$1,200 and NT$600. About 2,000 to 3,000 were sold in the first three months of the year.

By comparison, 34,000 of the made-in-Taiwan NT$100 jadeite cabbage cellphone strap were sold in the same period.

Speaking about the withdrawal of the mainland products yesterday, Curator Fung Ming-chu said the replicas will be restored to shelves today after being re-labeled "Designed in Taiwan".

"The museum has followed laws on government procurement, fair trading, consumer protection and trade labels when making purchase decisions.

"Taiwan is a member of the World Trade Organization. All lawful products should be allowed to sell," she said.

"I really don't care whether it's made on the mainland or Taiwan," said Candy Xie, a Guangzhou marketing manager who has visited the Taipei museum and bought a cabbage souvenir.

(HK Edition 04/03/2009 page1)