The Presidential Office and Cabinet yesterday utterly denied any intention of relocating the nation's capital from Taipei to Kaohsiung following a suggestion from Vice President Annette Lu (
While Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chih-mai (
"She merely pointed out that Taipei City does not necessarily have to remain the nation's capital forever, and proposed a very creative idea that the government could consider relocating the nation's capital from Taipei to Kaohsiung," Chen said.
Lu made the remarks during a luncheon with local tourism industry leaders in Kaohsiung on Saturday.
Responding to Lu's proposal, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers Lin Chin-hsing (
In a press release jointly made public by their offices, the trio pledged to launch a petition in the legislature to seek endorsement from lawmakers across party lines to push for a national referendum on the issue. They also planned to broach the subject during the DPP's weekly Central Standing Committee meeting, seeking the endorsement of their party.
Opposing the relocation idea, opposition lawmakers yesterday unleashed a tirade against Lu's proposal. KMT Spokeswoman Kuo Su-chun (
"It's to the people's detriment if the government fails to take cost-effectiveness into consideration during its policy-making process," Kuo said. She also called on the DPP to adopt a more pragmatic approach on this matter.
"If it is indeed the government's policy to relocate the nation's capital, we'd like to see its detailed plan and evaluation reports," she said.
Commenting on the DPP lawmakers' referendum proposal, Kuo said that the move would be meaningless because the DPP government is known for breaking its own promises.
"While the election-day referendum on arms procurement failed, it still forged on the arms procurement plan," Kuo said.
Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
PFP Spokesman Hwang Yih-jiau (
"Is there anything wrong with keeping the nation's capital in Taipei, judging from the political, economical and military aspects?" Hwang asked. "If the move was aimed at narrowing the gap between the north and south, I believe there are other alternatives that could achieve that goal."
If the DPP government insisted on pushing for a referendum to decide the matter, Hwang said that the PFP respected the people's and lawmakers' right to initiate a referendum as long as the procedure met the requirement of the Referendum Law (公民投票法).
PFP lawmaker Lee Hung-chun (
"All it has in mind is votes, votes, votes. Has the nation's overall interest ever crossed its mind?" Lee asked. "It's not an easy task and bound to cause a dent in the state coffers to relocate the nation's capital. Japan and South Korea are two perfect examples."
It has been over a decade since the relocation of the national capital was first proposed in Japan. It is estimated that the relocation plan may cost the Japanese government over NT$6.2 trillion (or about US$200 billion). The South Korean government estimated that its capital relocation plan may cost the government over NT$1.3 trillion (or about US$40 billion).
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
DANGEROUS DRIVERS: The proposal follows a fatal incident on Monday involving a 78-year-old driver, which killed three people and injured 12 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said it would lower the age for elderly drivers to renew their license from 75 to 70 as part of efforts to address safety issues caused by senior motorists. The new policy was proposed in light of a deadly incident on Monday in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽), in which a 78-year-old motorist surnamed Yu (余) sped through a school zone, killing three people and injuring 12. Last night, another driver sped down a street in Tainan’s Yuching District (玉井), killing one pedestrian and injuring two. The incidents have sparked public discussion over whether seniors
RSS