Shortly before midnight on Friday, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC,
Despite such good news, the row over the rail company's latest injection of funds from two government-funded organizations -- the China Technical Consultants Incorporated Foundation (
Critics argued that the government's financial intervention goes against a legislative resolution passed earlier to limit the government's stake in the rail company via state-owned enterprises to 12 percent, down from an original 20 percent ceiling. THSRC claims that after the injection of fresh funds, government and state-owned enterprises will still only have an 11.89 percent stake in the company, while its major shareholders will jointly hold a 28.52 percent. But it is well known that government investments are often made indirectly and hidden under the category of "private investments."
Critics are also concerned that the government's decision to pump more capital into the rail project conflicts with the spirit of the "build, operate and transfer" (BOT) model. In this model, the government is not supposed to interfere with the project, but rather let private investors build and operate the system for a certain period of time before transferring ownership to the government.
The critics have a point. The government's financial boost to the nation's first BOT project has raised doubts about the viability of that business model in Taiwan. Nevertheless, the project is now almost 90 percent complete, and no one wants to see it collapse. The government therefore has little choice but to aid the high-speed rail project in its hour of need. In fact, if the rail project is disrupted because of fund-raising difficulties, the government would have to make a compulsory buyout, which would cost an estimated NT$300 billion -- not to mention the job losses, legal disputes and economic fallout that would result.
And so, the government's decision should be viewed rationally. The Cabinet has decided to form a special task force of experts in transportation, financing and operational management to evaluate the rail project. Hopefully this special team will act to supervise the multi-billion dollar project. THSRC's major private shareholders -- whose affiliated companies make big profits by contracting construction work -- have been hesitant to inject more money into the project. The task force should also thoroughly review major shareholders' responsibilities and consider whether the board of directors should be adjusted after the high-speed railway begins service next October.
It is important to note that the THSRC's contracts with the government were finalized by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) before the DPP took power. It is therefore unreasonable to blame the DPP for all the project's difficulties. For its part, the government should avoid pointing fingers, and work to review the its previous agreement with the THSRC and establish a new division of rights and responsibilities between the government and the private sector.
There were high hopes in the past about the high-speed rail project, and expectations that it would be completed in the fundamental spirit of the BOT model. The project's current crisis shows that the BOT experiment has failed. The government, private sector and the public should learn from this fiasco and avoid making the same mistakes with other BOT projects in the future.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
On April 19, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gave a public speech, his first in about 17 years. During the address at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s words were vague and his tone was sour. He said that democracy should not be used as an echo chamber for a single politician, that people must be tolerant of other views, that the president should not act as a dictator and that the judiciary should not get involved in politics. He then went on to say that others with different opinions should not be criticized as “XX fellow travelers,” in reference to
RSS