Preparations for the 2017 Universiade are on track, Taipei Department of Sports Commissioner Hung Chia-wen (洪嘉文) said yesterday, his first public comments outlining his vision for the event.
The student games is set to be the largest international event ever hosted by Taipei, billed as second only to the Olympics by the International University Sports Federation, the organizer of the event.
However, uncertainly has clouded preparations following controversy over the future of the Taipei Dome and accusations by city councilors that other event venues are behind schedule.
Hung said that all of the venues being constructed are ahead of schedule, including the Taipei Dome, the Taipei Tennis Center and the Taipei Basketball Arena.
Wu Wei-ming (吳偉銘), the department’s senior technical specialist responsible for construction and renovation of event venues, said that the Taipei Dome and Taipei Basketball Arena are on schedule to be completed by November 2016, well before the August 2017 competitions begin.
The renovation of 77 existing venues is expected to take only nine months, leaving plenty of time before the Universiade, he said.
The venues need to be completed several months before competition begins to allow time for trials and tests.
Hung said full results on a safety checkup being conducted on the Taipei Dome would be announced on April 15.
While the Taipei Dome site might be unavailable for the competition if the site fails to pass safety checks, the Taipei Municipal Stadium can easily be renovated to take over events planned for the Taipei Dome, Wu said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner