Taiwan gave the international community a lesson in tackling urban flooding yesterday as more than 170 countries gathered at the 3rd World Water Forum in the Japanese city of Kyoto.
The Water Resources Agency (WRA) presented three reports on flood mitigation in urban areas at the triennial international meeting, offering valuable suggestions taken from past experience.
WRA Director Hwang Jing-san (黃金山), leader of Taiwan's 30-strong delegation to the forum, said the flood mitigation strategy in Taipei deserved to be heard by a wider audience because it has been adopted by a national capital.
Lee Hong-yuan (
Lee said those strategies included building detention ponds (small dam created to hold back an excessive amount of rain fall in a short period of time), revising land-use regulations and establishing a sound flood-insurance system.
Lee said that Taipei has been victim to a series of floods since 1997. Lee said, however,that Typhoon Nari in 2001 exposed the country's shortcomings in flood prevention.
"We would like to share our know-how on flood-warning systems, but also hopefully learn about non-engineering strategies from others," Lee said.
Lee Tim-hau (
"We believe that a transnational collaborative mechanism on rainfall precipitation is needed not only by Taiwan but also the Philippines and Vietnam," Lee said.
The WRA's presentation interested participants, especially those from nations with similar environmental problems to Taiwan.
F. L. Bussink from the Netherlands' Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, said in his country people were told to believe in engineering. Bussink added, however, that recent urban flooding in his country demonstrates that engineering is not a cure-all.
Bussink stressed the importance of reshaping old-fashioned engineering concepts and educating the public.
"All measures need political support. However, the government should tell people the truth," Bussink said.
DPP lawmaker Eugene Jao (趙永清), who attended the forum in Kyoto yesterday, said that Taiwan's active participation in the forum demonstrates the country's ambition to keep up with sustainable-development issues.
Hwang said that Taiwan is facing the same water challenges as others, such as increased flooding, water-supply shortages, ongoing development, worsening urbanization, over pumping of ground water and increased costs of maintaining water sources.
Hwang said, however, that participation in the forum was a good chance for Taiwan to review the problems that are unique to the country.
"For example, how could the sewer system in an industrialized country like Taiwan be so poor?" Hwang said.
In 2000, according to government statistics, the average sewer connection ratio in Taiwan was only 7.2 percent. Even in the Taipei metropolitan area, the ratio was only 48.
In Kaohsiung, the nation's second largest city, the ratio is 7.2 percent. In the rest of the country, the ratio is 0.6 percent.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
RSS