The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday it was planning to establish a Harbor Affairs Bureau by 2011 to supervise the operations of all the nation’s ports.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) told a briefing at the legislature’s Transportation Committee that the ministry was also planning to enhance the competitiveness of the nation’s international seaports by turning them into commercial port corporations.
CARGO
“We will also take advantage of the opportunity brought by direct cross-strait sea transportation and enhance our ties to some of the second-tier inland river ports in China,” Yeh said. “We hope this will help increase the amount of cargo transferred via Taiwan.”
The ministry’s Aviation and Navigation Department currently supervises the operations of the nation’s international commercial seaports, including Keelung Port, Taichung Port, Kaohsiung Port and Hualien Port.
Taipei Port is managed by Keelung Harbor Bureau.
Kaohsiung Port, the nation’s largest, fell out of the top 10 global ranking in terms of container cargo handled last year.
The lackluster performance of Kaohsiung Port was the focus of the question-and-answer session at the legislative meeting yesterday, which was scheduled to review the port’s operational budget.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Jen-fu (楊仁福) said the nation had not benefited from direct transportation services. Instead cargo delivered via Taiwan had gradually dwindled, he said.
Yeh attributed the drop in Kaohsiung’s ranking to the global economic downturn, shrinking domestic demand and relocation of the nation’s manufacturers to China.
VALUE
“The nation should focus on increasing the value of goods delivered via Taiwan, rather than just raising cargo volume,” Yeh said.
Both KMT and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers opposed the ministry’s budget plan for the next fiscal year, which seeks to transfer NT$8 billion in seaport construction funding to the treasury.
Yeh said the ministry was indeed short of funds for construction work at Kaohsiung Port, adding that the Executive Yuan may have other considerations on budget allocation.
“We will respect the committee’s decision if it insists we keep the fund,” he said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS