Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday courted controversy at an academic forum by proposing to remap the country's administrative regions.
In her proposal, Lu suggested moving the capital south or appointing another capital in the south to reduce the development gap between northern and southern Taiwan.
Apart from making the suggestion that Taiwan should be divided into four major parts -- northern, central, western and eastern Taiwan -- to replace the current 22 administrative regions governed by local governments, Lu also proposed to establish two "special administrations" -- one governing the nation's high mountainous regions and the other governing Taiwan's off-shore islands.
"As an initiator of remapping the country's local administrations, I want to say that we must have an overall change in the existing situation, which is not suitable anymore for the country to maintain a sustainable living environment", Lu said.
Lu used the High-Speed Rail (HSR) network as an example, which is scheduled to start operating this year. The HSR would greatly influence the areas it passes through, she said.
"As the HSR would shorten the geographical distance and save transportation time, it would be meaningless to have so many small administrative divisions," Lu said, noting that that's why she suggested dividing Taiwan into four major parts.
Responding to the vice president's idea, Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎), the Interior Ministry vice minister -- whose ministry is in charge of the country's administrative divisions -- said that he's not sure whether Lu's proposal can replace current policy.
"The vice president has the right to express her opinions, but I am not sure whether they will be adopted as the government's policy or not," Chien said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"My idea is to merge the administrative divisions into northern, central and southern metropolitan areas. The three areas will serve as a development engine driving the country forward," Ma said yesterday.
Ma said that there would be more details to work out on the issue, such as if the title "province" should be retained.
However, KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said that "it seemed to me that Lu's proposal was a preparation for declaring the country's independence in the future."
The Democratic People's Party government should enhance its ability to implement policies, not remap the nation, said Hwang Yih-jiau (黃義交), the People First Party caucus whip.
additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
RSS