The project to build a a branch of the Guggenheim Museum in Taichung City appeared dead yesterday with the Guggenheim Foundation scheduled to hold a board meeting after press time last night to scrap the project.
The New York-based foundation informed the Taichung City Government on Tuesday that it would formally terminate its cooperative relationship with the city on the project at the board meeting yesterday.
Hoping to rescue the NT$6.4 billion project before its fate was sealed at the board meeting, Jason Hu (胡志強), Taichung's mayor, visited President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to solicit his help, but to no avail.
Seeking a scapegoat for the humiliating end to a venture in which he had invested much personal credibility, Hu accused the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan of not supporting the project.
The real reason for the project's demise is that the Taichung City Council blocking the scheme which it called a future financial liability, and Hu was unable to persuade the council to change its mind.
Responding to Hu's criticism, James Huang (黃志芳), deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office, said that Hu's accusation was simply misleading.
"We're sorry to learn of Mayor Hu's remark about the central government and we wish he wouldn't mislead the public to think that we oppose the project and should take responsibility for its termination," Huang said.
According to Huang, the Presidential Office received an e-mailed letter Tuesday, dated Dec. 8, from the foundation's chief executive officer Thomas Krens, telling it that the foundation had informed the Taichung City Government, also on Dec. 8, that it would end its relationship with the city due to the council's opposition to he project.
The city later confirmed that they received two e-mailed letters from the foundation. While one of them was addressed to the Presidential Office, the other was to the mayor. While the letters were dated Dec. 8, they were not received until Tuesday.
City authorities said that Krens did mention in one of the letters that he did not think it was possible to continue the project after Saturday's legislative election.
Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that the problems with the project lay in the city council, not in the central government.
"While we've been supporting the project 100 percent from the very beginning, the city council has taken an opposing view," he said.
According to Chen Chi-mai, the crux of the problem lies in a proposed change of location and an initial agreement signed between the city government and the museum in September.
While the city had originally planned to build the museum in downtown Taichung, the city council proposed building it on the site of Shuinan Airport, which would be relocated.
The foundation frowned on the relocation proposal, saying that if the site was changed, planning for the project would have to start all over. Describing the cooperation agreement as "unfair" and "unfeasible," the city council said that the agreement would cause huge future debts for the city.
While the museum's branch in Spain cost about NT$3 billion (US$93 million) to build, Chen Chi-mai said that a Taichung branch was estimated to cost between NT$6.4 billion and NT$8 billion.
The design fee for the project would be 15 percent of the total construction fee, which is about 7 to 12 percent more than that of other branches of the museum around the world. The city also anticipated an annual loss of between NT$200 million and NT$400 million for operating the museum.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS