The 2017 Universiade’s opening and closing ceremonies will not be held at the Taipei Dome — as originally planned — but will instead be moved to the Taipei Municipal Stadium, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
“If you take into account the time needed to prepare the interior, it cannot be guaranteed that the Taipei Dome project will be completed on time,” Ko said, adding that it would be easier to conduct city business if the Taipei Dome and the Universiade were “disconnected.”
The ceremonies were originally scheduled to be held in the Taipei Dome, but construction has fallen behind schedule amid conflict between the city government and contractor Farglory Group (遠雄集團) over safety and contract terms.
Photo: Liang Pei-chi, Taipei Times
Ko said the stadium had already been used for the 2009 Summer Deaflympics, adding that its smaller seating capacity was the only drawback.
The stadium can seat 20,000 people, half of the Taipei Dome’s seating capacity as specified in construction plans.
While the city would consider measures to increase the number of seats, it estimated that lost ticket sales from holding the ceremonies at the stadium would total NT$200 million (US$6.5 million), Ko said.
He added that the city’s backup plan called for the ceremonies to be moved to the Taipei Arena. Unlike the Taipei Dome, the Taipei Municipal Stadium cannot be covered to shield spectators from the elements.
The city’s decision came as the first round of arbitration talks between the Taipei City Government and Farglory fell apart at the last minute yesterday.
Shortly before the arbitration proceedings at the Taiwan Construction Arbitration Association were to begin, arbitration committee chair Yao Nai-jia (姚乃嘉) announced that Shih Yi-fang (施義芳), Farglory’s arbitration representative, had just called to announce her resignation, without specifying a reason.
Taipei Department of Legal Affairs division chief Shen Hsing-lin (沈杏霖) said the city government was “astonished” and “at a loss” over Shih’s resignation, while emphasizing the city government’s position that there are currently no grounds for arbitration.
She said the Taipei Dome contract calls for a negotiation committee of representatives appointed by the firm and city to be established if talks break down. Arbitration is only required if the “harmonization committee” is unable to resolve the dispute after three months, she said.
She said the city agreed to send a representative yesterday, because only the arbitration committee could deny Farglory’s demand for arbitration.
Farglory spokesman Jacky Yang (楊舜欽) said Shih had not contacted the firm to explain her resignation.
He added that Farglory had demanded arbitration in April only after the city failed to respond to a March request to establish a “harmonization committee.”
Under the city’s contract with Farglory, if either party is unsatisfied with the result of arbitration, they can take the dispute to court.
The Universiade is an international biannual college student competition billed as second only to the Olympics by its organizer, the International University Sports Federation.
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
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS