The Taipei City Government warned the Taipei 101 Mall yesterday against placing "illegal" advertisements on the exterior of the building after it failed to apply to the city government in advance.
Ads should be reviewed by the city's Urban Development Department before being placed on Taipei 101's outer walls, said Liu Mei-hsiu (劉美秀), a division chief.
New Party Taipei City councilors Hou Kuan-chiung (侯冠群) and Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) had complained about the ads for Toyota Motor Corp on the building.
"Since the red, round-shape Toyota advertisements were put on Taipei 101, many residents have called and complained about a Japanese flag-like ad appearing on Taipei's landmark," Hou said in front of the building yesterday.
Wang said the ads could mislead tourists into thinking Taipei 101 was Toyota's headquarters.
Liu said Taipei 101 has already been fined NT$80,000 in accordance with the Construction Law (建築法) for carrying illegal advertisements, and told the ads must be removed immediately. Taipei 101 removed the Toyota ads yesterday.
Meanwhile, city officials denied having a dispute with the building's management over the New Year's Eve fireworks show.
"The city government will make sure there is another successful fireworks show ... but we don't want politics or any `provacative' words to appear during the show," city government spokesman Yang Hsiao-tung (
The Tourism Bureau will stage this year's fireworks, triggering rumors that it might use the show to promote the nation's UN bid.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)