Legislators yesterday gave a preliminary go-ahead to an amendment that would make it easier for businesses to buy property and build tourist resorts on offshore islands.
The revision to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) passed its first review by the Economic Committee amid controversy from opposition lawmakers and environmental groups who fear it could lead to rampant overdevelopment on some of Taiwan’s pristine coastlines.
Proposed by Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Lin Pin-kun (林炳坤), the amendment would loosen strict land use requirements put on large-scale developments. It would also increase the amount of floor space bonuses local governments can award to land developers.
The proposal would also give local governments the authority to make decisions on large-scale developments not exceeding 50 hectares, a move that environmentalists said could lead to environmental impact assessments being conducted by less thorough local environmental agencies.
Lin, who represents Penghu County, said the proposal was essential to keep foreign investment in the county’s tourism sector from drying up after residents in November last year rejected a plan that would have legalized gambling.
“After the referendum failed last year, foreign companies and investors have said they want to pull out their investments. We are thinking of ways to ensure they stay in Penghu and invest their money in Penghu’s tourist hotels,” Lin said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said the revisions would unfairly benefit large corporations and overshadow the interests of the residents of Penghu.
If the requirements for large developments were lowered, it would have an adverse effect on the island chain’s fragile ecosystem and privatize a number of the county’s scenic coastlines, she said.
Lin rebutted DPP criticism that his proposal was meant to help corporations build casinos in Penghu.
He told a press conference that his proposal would give investors incentives to invest in the hotel businesses on the island.
“The proposal has nothing to do with gambling,” he said.
At a press conference held with Tien yesterday morning, Robin Winkler (文魯彬), an environmentalist working with the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, said only politicians and big business would benefit from the revisions.
Lin said opposition lawmakers misread his intentions and denied that the revisions were in connection with any future plans to hold another casino referendum.
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
HIGH-TECH DEAL: Chipmakers that expand in the US would be able to import up to 2.5 times their new capacity with no extra tariffs during an approved construction period Taiwan aims to build a “democratic” high-tech supply chain with the US and form a strategic artificial intelligence (AI) partnership under the new tariffs deal it sealed with Washington last week, Taipei’s top negotiator in the talks said yesterday. US President Donald Trump has pushed Taiwan, a major producer of semiconductors which runs a large trade surplus with the US, to invest more in the US, specifically in chips that power AI. Under the terms of the long-negotiated deal, chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) that expand US production would incur a lower tariff on semiconductors or related manufacturing
RSS