Premier Frank Hsieh (
Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that in reviewing accountability for the recent water-supply problem in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, the premier had expressed the hope of soliciting a water-supply expert to replace Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘), vice economic affairs minister who served as convener of the ministry's water resources screening committee and water resources coordination committee before being demoted on Wednesday over the Taoyuan water-supply problem.
After Typhoon Matsa battered Taiwan earlier this month, bringing strong winds and torrential rains, water supply in Taoyuan was disrupted because of the high turbidity in the Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) -- the county's main water source. The water supply in the northern part of the county was not fully restored until Aug. 13.
Cho said the premier has talked with nearly 10 former officials, hydraulic-power academics and experts on how to solve the persistent water problems in Taoyuan County, although he has yet to inquire about their intention to serve as vice economic affairs minister.
Cho also said that during a regular weekly meeting with President Chen Shui-bian (
The premier had recently pointed out that none of the three sitting vice economic affairs ministers are water experts, and that their "jobs might have to be adjusted."
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
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