Civic groups yesterday urged the public to help preserve the nation’s remaining natural coastline by opposing plans to include part of it into Provincial Highway No. 26 to complete an islandwide highway circuit project.
The 8km long Alangyi Ancient Trail (阿塱壹古道) in Pingtung County was established in the 1870s and used primarily by Aboriginal tribes for travel along the coast. In recent years, it has gained popularity among nature lovers because it follows the last stretch of Taiwanese coastline that is devoid of concrete wave breakers, dykes and blacktops.
However, government plans to construct a highway network circling Taiwan proper would mean cutting through the trail. Protests against the potential destruction of wildlife have been going on since the project passed an environment impact assessment by the Environmental Protection Administration in 2002.
Although the revised construction plan — moving the planned highway 200m inward from the coastline to preserve some ecologically sensitive areas — passed another environment impact assessment in December last year, environmental groups said the project would still be an ecological disaster.
The groups yesterday said they hoped to get 100,000 people to sign a petition by July 24 to preserve the Alangyi Ancient Trail — the deadline for being designated a “temporary nature reserve” by the Pingtung County Government according to the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法).
So far, 38,000 people have signed the petition, the groups said.
Hung Hui-hsiang (洪輝祥), chairman of the Pingtung Environmental Protection Union, told a press conference in Taipei that the county government has only limited resources and authority to protect the ancient trail by extending the designation for another six months, so they hoped the central government would step in to help preserve the natural coastline by prohibiting further artificial construction.
A letter has also been written to each presidential candidate, urging them to listen to the people and protect the coastline.
“Public servants should listen to the masters of the nation — the people — and learn to appreciate our land,” Hung said, adding that “instead of the masters kneeling down in front of the servants for favors, we should stop them from destroying our land and to listen to our voices.”
Hung said the area has evolved into a unique world-class ecological corridor, with abundant and diverse species found in four climate zones within the 60km area.
Endangered species — such as green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) — have been observed in the area, he said.
“Taiwan will become a concrete jungle and the wilderness will be irreversibly destroyed if the highway is constructed,” Hung said. “It is an important link in the conservation of the natural environment in Taiwan.”
Writer Chang Hsiao-feng (張曉風) shared a poem that expressed the tranquility, serenity and purity she felt when walking the ancient trail.
Musician and environmental activist Matthew Lien said that a complete healthy ecosystem should be a connected one, from the seas to the mountains, but the planned highway would be cutting them into separate parts.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS