Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that the city government is open to criticism of its public housing plans after questions were raised over the possible negative impact a high concentration of planned public housing projects in Xinyi (信義) and Wenshan (文山) districts would have on traffic.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor William Hsu (徐弘庭) on Monday questioned Taipei Department of Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民) over the department’s choice of locations for nine public housing complexes, saying they did not conform to the transit-oriented development (TOD) model, which the department has said would be a priority in planning for the projects.
Under the model, public housings should not be within a 500m radius of any MRT station and a 300m radius of any bus station to reduce impacts on local traffic after residents move into the new buildings.
Lin told the Taipei City Council meeting that if a complex’s location met one of the two aforementioned requirements, it should be counted as having conformed to the model.
Hsu countered that if the planned MRT Southern Ring line is included, the locations of the nine housing complexes would not meet the model’s requirements, because they are all within 500m of MRT stations.
If the complexes should not be built within 300m of bus stops, all houses in Taipei, except those in Maokong (貓空) and on Yangmingshan, failed the requirement, he said.
The two continued their war of words late at night on Facebook after Lin, in an apparent move to defend himself, posted the department’s site plan, saying that the ring line had not been included in the TOD analysis and asking Hsu to “read, re-read and re-read again.”
Hsu replied with a snapshot of Ko’s presentation files on the housing complexes stating the opposite.
Hsu accused Lin of spreading false information and questioned his provocative move of posting on a city councilor’s Facebook page late at night.
He said that Ko should follow the example set by president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) when she asked gaffe-prone minister without portfolio-designate Chang Ching-sen (張景森) to deactivate his Facebook account, and ask Lin to deactivate his account too.
Asked by reporters to comment on Hsu’s suggestion, Ko said: “If he [Lin] dutifully carries out his job, I do not care if he drives a taxi at night or posts on Facebook.”
Ko said that the focus of criticism of the public housing has veered from the insufficient number of units set aside for the disadvantaged to its potential impact on transportation, and that the city government would remain open to criticism and revise its plans if necessary.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
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
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard