Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief as the city managed to preserve its right to host the 2009 World Games by completing an indoor arena for the international sports event prior to the Aug. 28 deadline.
Chen said she could relax after learning that the Kaohsiung Arena, the site of the World Games scheduled for July next year, had acquired its usage permit.
With the arena having obtained the necessary permits, the city is now ready to hold warm-up contests for the Games as scheduled next month, she said.
Work on the arena began on Aug. 13, 2004, and was expected to be completed within two years. But serious delays in the construction raised the ire of the International World Games Association, the body responsible for the World Games.
The association threatened to take away Kaohsiung’s right to host the Games if the arena could not be completed in time for the warm-up competitions.
On a visit to the new arena, Chen expressed her gratitude to the engineers and workers who completed the facility ahead of the deadline.
The Kaohsiung Arena, which was built as a BOT (build-operate-transfer) project by China Steel affiliate Kaohsiung Arena Development Corp at a cost of NT$6.7 billion (US$210 million), is a 15,000-seat multi-functional facility.
The city government provided subsidies of NT$1.5 billion for the construction of the facility, which will be operated by Kaohsiung Arena Development Corp for the next 50 years.
Also yesterday, the city invited the public to attend an international regatta at the Port of Kaohsiung at the weekend and to cheer for the competitors, a local official said Friday.
An official from the city government’s Marine Bureau, which organized the event, said the inshore race would be held at the port’s Honorary Pier (光榮碼頭) and at Sizihwan (西子灣).
A total of 81 local and foreign competitors will sail 11 keel boats registered in Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan, the official said.
The two-day regatta will include sailing, canoeing and surf-boarding competitions, the official said, adding that a lottery would be held on the opening day.
Additional information is available on the Kaohsiung City Government Web site.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
RSS