President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has announced that a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system is to be built in Changhua County. With every city and county demanding an MRT or light-rail system, Tainan, Hsinchu, Keelung and Changhua are next in line to join Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taoyuan and Taichung. This development is no different from the 1990s policy to open many new universities, which has resulted in a higher education crisis.
People who have traveled on the Taipei MRT are surely impressed by its convenience and the crowds. It seems that having an MRT is the symbol of a fashionable city. Having experienced the “convenience” and seen the “profits” made by its operator, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp, city mayors and county commissioners across the nation want to emulate this success.
However, the Taipei MRT’s 20-year history shows that although the average number of people using the system last year exceeded 2 million per day, the transportation side of the business was still losing money. Had it not been for other sources of revenue, such as advertising and rent, there would not have been enough money to cover the system’s operating costs.
Taipei and New Taipei City have a population of more than 6.5 million, and combined with tourists and business visitors, these people account for the average daily transport volume of more than 2 million passengers.
Kaohsiung has a population of less than 3 million, and after 10 years in operation, the transportation side of its MRT business is still losing money. Let us not even mention Changhua County, with a population of less than 1.3 million. If local populations continue to grow, it might make sense, but are not all Taiwanese feeling the pressure of the nation’s low birthrate?
Those who want to use transportation infrastructure to bolster the local economy might have mistakenly simplified the relationship between cause and effect. Transportation infrastructure is indeed an important component of economic development, but it is not certain to create economic development. Other key components are an available workforce and a conducive industrial environment.
Transportation infrastructure alone without supporting measures run the risk of resulting in an empty and unused MRT system.
Yang Chih-yuan is an assistant professor at National Taiwan Normal University.
Translated by Lin Lee-Kai
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
As Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won by a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, it is a good time to take another look at recent developments in the Maldivian foreign policy. While Muizzu has been promoting his “Maldives First” policy, the agenda seems to have lost sight of a number of factors. Contemporary Maldivian policy serves as a stark illustration of how a blend of missteps in public posturing, populist agendas and inattentive leadership can lead to diplomatic setbacks and damage a country’s long-term foreign policy priorities. Over the past few months, Maldivian foreign policy has entangled itself in playing
A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers led by the party’s legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (?) are to visit Beijing for four days this week, but some have questioned the timing and purpose of the visit, which demonstrates the KMT caucus’ increasing arrogance. Fu on Wednesday last week confirmed that following an invitation by Beijing, he would lead a group of lawmakers to China from Thursday to Sunday to discuss tourism and agricultural exports, but he refused to say whether they would meet with Chinese officials. That the visit is taking place during the legislative session and in the aftermath