Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday voiced support for Academia Sinica’s plan to turn a disputed piece of land in Taipei into a national biotechnology park.
Wang told a forum in Taipei that turning the 202 Munitions Works into a biotechnology park was far better than maintaining it as a military factory. He also said Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) had told him that he would like to attract more biotechnology companies to the planned technology zone, using Academic Sinica’s facilities to attract biotechnology talent.
“The plan was not initially controversial until individuals in art and literature circles and environmental protection activists said they would like to turn the land into a park or ecological reserve,” Wang said.
The speaker said he believed the government would be able to strike a balance between environmental protection and economic development.
The 202 Munitions Works, located in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港), became the subject of controversy after essayist Chang Hsiao-feng (張曉風) urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to reject a proposal.
Following Chang’s call, a group of academics, artists and environmental protection advocates launched a signature drive last week to urge Ma and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) to turn the site into Taipei’s “Central Park.”
Armament Bureau Director Liu Fu-long (劉復龍) said last week that the planned biotech park would occupy 9.6 hectares of the site.
In response to the activists’ protests, Wu referred the development plan to an environmental impact assessment by the Environmental Protection Administration on May 13.
Meanwhile, members of the Education and Culture Committee went to inspect the land with Wong.
Committee head Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲), a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker, said the visit was meant to help legislators understand why the plan to set up the park had become so controversial.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS