Heavy rains in recent days have caused more serious erosion around the problematic Tower 16 (T16) and nearby Tower 15 (T15) of Taipei’s Maokong Gondola, threatening the safety of residents living nearby, a city councilor said yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) showed a series of pictures taken days ago around the gondola’s T15 support pillar to prove that the city government had failed to put concrete around the steel bars of the support pillar, causing them to rust.
UNSTABLE
T15 and almost all the other towers were built on unstable ground where the topsoil was fragile, and they could be damaged like T16 in the event of heavy rains or a typhoon, she added.
“Our new findings prove that not only is T16 a problem, but the whole structure of the gondola system is problematic. I urge the city government to take action and reexamine all 25 towers,” Hsu told a press conference at the Taipei City Council.
SUSPENDED
Operations of the gondola system, a major construction project under then Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), were suspended on Oct.1 after a typhoon caused mudslides and created a 2.5m hole beneath T16.
In January, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said that T16 would be relocated and reported 11 city government officials and two contracting companies to the Control Yuan and the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office for investigation into possible dereliction of duty.
Chen Teh-yao (陳德耀), an architect who has been living in the residential community near the area for more than 30 years, said yesterday that the city government had only focused on the problem with T16, while ignoring damage to other towers.
“There are a lot of residential communities in the area between T15 and T16 towers, and we are worried that another mudslide could occur during the typhoon season,” he said.
‘LIMITED EFFECT’
Huang Hsi-hsun (黃錫薰), director of Taipei City’s New Construction Office, said the office had sent staff to check the rusty steel bars in the pillar, adding that rust would have a limited effect on the structure.
Hsu demanded that the office re-examine all of the system’s 25 support towers and present a report to the council before the onset of the typhoon season in June.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of