Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (
As Hau presented his first report on municipal developments to the Taipei City Council yesterday, city councilors lashed out at him for failing to mention problems with the Taipei Arena and Maokong gondola system in the report. Councilors questioned his administration's ability to operate the arena.
"Since the Hau army marched into the arena a month ago, the place has been in ruins and the city's sports bureau has refused to provide information to councilors," Taiwan Solidarity Union Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) said in a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council.
Democratic Progressive Party councilors Hung Chien-yi (洪健益) and Chuang Rei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) questioned the legitimacy of the special team the city government formed to run the arena.
They said the city government's involvement in the management of the arena violated the Government Procurement Act (採購法).
"The city government has no ability to manage the arena and it is against the law to skip the public bidding process to select a management team," Chuang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) councilor Lai Su-ru (
Hau said the city government had reduced rental fees at the arena, as it did not seek to make a profit from the operation.
The city government would consider continuing to run the facility if the operation proved successful, he said.
"The arena is public property, and the city government's goal is to revive the arena," Hau said.
The city government took over the arena last month and formed a special team led by Taipei City Secretariat Deputy Director Yang Hsi-an (
Hau has said the city would run the arena for one year, following which it would find a new operator through public tender.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it