The dazzling fireworks show at Taipei 101 has been the climax of New Year’s Eve countdown parties in Taipei since the skyscraper was completed in 2004, but the tradition may become history after a 272m-tall building nearby is completed in 2015.
Media reports say the new building is to be built on a 5,357 ping (17,709m2) plot of land just 60m from the 509m-high Taipei 101 and will have 45 floors, making it the second-tallest building in the city.
The plot of land, which now houses the Taipei World Trade Center’s Hall 2, was leased by the Taipei City Government to Nan Shan Life Insurance Co for 50 years for a royalty of NT$26.8 billion (US$894 million) in a contract that was inked last year.
According to Taipei 101 spokesman Michael Liu (劉家豪), the safety distance for fireworks displays is 100m and although the new building will not be situated right next to Taipei 101, it will be just 60m away.
“The new skyscraper’s close proximity to Taipei 101 poses a problem to the design of the building’s countdown fireworks show. Because the vertical safety distance for fireworks displays is 150m, setting off fireworks from the 89th floor could be a problem,” Liu said.
However, as construction is still in the preparatory phase, this year’s fireworks show is unlikely to be affected, Liu said, adding that Taipei 101 officials would meet with the insurance corporation and the Taipei City Government soon to discuss possible solutions to the problem.
In response, Nan Shan said its project was being carried out in accordance with city regulations and that the planned building’s surroundings had been factored into its design.
“The company hopes that the new building can bring about mutual prosperity with businesses in Xinyi District (信義) and provide a boost to the local economy,” Nan Shan said.
Taipei 101’s fireworks shows led to Taipei being selected by CNN as one of the top 10 destinations in the world in which to welcome a new year.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
RSS