Giving Greater Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) a thumbs-up for planning the central city’s new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) blue line that he said is as good as a subway, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday also lauded Hu’s governance as better than that of Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).
Ma made the remarks after a 3.5km ride on the Bus Rapid Transit route along Taiwan Boulevard on the eve of the opening of its year-long free service.
Ma, who is also Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, said that every time he visits Greater Taichung, the city gives him a different impression, as it is gradually transforming into an international metropolis.
Photo: CNA
He touted the effort Hu has put into the regeneration of Maple Park, describing it as an example of “turning trash into treasure.”
Saying the bus system offers a great view along its route, Ma said he thinks the public transportation system is better than Taipei’s MRT metropolitan rail system, which is mostly underground.
Ma said he thinks the acronym “BRT” should stand for “Bravo Remarkable Taichung,” expressing hopes that there will be good follow-up work that can make the system in Taichung a model for public transport development in other cities.
Hu, a KMT member running for re-election in the Nov. 29 elections, was smiling ear to ear in response to Ma’s praise.
The 17.2km-long blue line connects Taichung’s railway station and Providence University in the western part of the city. It is one of six BRT lines that are expected to be completed one after another, with the final line opening in 2019.
The system consists of articulated buses — whose sections are connected by a pivoting point — that can carry up to 120 passengers and, for the most part, travels in a dedicated bus lane.
For the next year, passengers using electronic travel cards such as an EasyCard or iPass can use the blue line for free.
Ma also touted Hu’s management of government funds, saying he was more capable than Hau at reducing city government deficits.
In response, Hau, a KMT member, later yesterday said through a Taipei City Government spokesperson that he believes city policies should be judged as an integrated whole, adding that he thinks different cities can learn from each other’s strengths and together become better.
Separately, when questioned by reporters, independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said Ma made a gaffe in his compliments for Hu.
It seems Ma’s definition of “good governance” is different from that held by the general public, Ko said, likening Hau and Hu’s mayoral stints to a test in which the mayors are like two students who respectively scored 38 and 40 percent — both failing the test.
KMT Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文), on the other hand, said that he thinks Hu is good at marketing Taichung and that Hau is decisive in implementing Taipei City’s policies.
“I have much to learn from them both,” Lien said.
Additional reporting by Chiu Shao-wen and Wu Liang-yi
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS