The Kaohsiung City Government is seeking to transform its Cijin (旗津) island into a special tourism zone with an NT$40 billion (US$1.28 billion) development plan for a 100-hectare plot of land, a city official said yesterday.
Urban Development Planning Bureau Deputy Director Hung Shu-hui (洪曙輝) said the Sentosa-style resort plan had gotten a good response from the Tourism Bureau after it was submitted last month.
Hung said he hoped the central government would approve the project by early next year so that the city government could open bidding on it.
The Cijin tourism development plan corresponds to one of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “i-Taiwan 12 infrastructure projects,” Hung said, which is to transform the city into a vibrant, diverse metropolis.
The i-Taiwan projects, one of Ma’s major economic platforms, proposes putting NT$2.65 trillion in government investment into boosting the economy over the next eight years by expanding domestic demand.
Hung dismissed rumors that the 100-hectare zone would feature casinos.
“The NT$40 billion tourism development plan is aimed at creating a sound investment climate” for Cijin island to make it “both an energy effective and tourism-centered area,” he said.
Hung said the development plan will include hotels, restaurants, beach facilities, recreational areas and historical sites.
He said the Kaohsiung City Government would also promote the solar power industry in Cijin, taking advantage of the island’s sunny weather.
In the first phase of development, the city government plans to upgrade transportation to Cijin with an electric cable car, a second underwater car tunnel and a subway link, he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS