The maximum capacity of the Taipei Dome is to be reduced from 140,000 to 90,000 people, Taipei Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮) said yesterday, adding that seven safety standards which the Taipei City Government is holding the complex to would ensure that the facility has “zero fatalities and vulnerabilities against contingencies.”
Speaking at a news conference in Taipei, Lin touted the seven safety standards as viable and credible evaluation tools.
The reduction in capacity is to help contractor Farglory Group meet the standards, Lin said, adding that Farglory would have to clear the ground levels of the complex’s five buildings.
According to the standards, Farglory must ensure that it takes no more than 15 minutes for all people to leave their seats and move to a concourse reserved for evacuations before exiting the stadium.
This requirement would be judged based on an average walking speed of 1.2m per second, an established seating plan and no stairways or exits closed.
Fire prevention compartments and other facilities should be present to allow the complex to withstand up to 30 minutes of fire and to ensure safety on the concourse.
The standards also stipulate that Farglory should allocate sufficient space outside of the complex for evacuations — excluding space taken up by vegetation, stairs and basements — and an 8m-wide passage for fire engines at all buildings in the complex.
To ensure traffic flow during an evacuation, evacuee density should not exceed three persons per square meter.
Although there are no regulations governing the distance between underground parking lots and stairs, the distance should not exceed 60m to ensure safety, a standard referenced from the design of the Osaka Dome.
Referring to Farglory chairman Chao Teng-hsiung’s (趙藤雄) remark that he would “bet [his] life on the Taipei Dome’s safety,” Lin said that the complex’s safety issues cannot be solved by a spat.
“A person swearing on his life does not make the Taipei Dome the ‘safest dome in the world,’” as Farglory has claimed, Lin said.
Farglory chairman Jacky Yang (楊舜欽) criticized the city government for reducing the capacity of the Taipei Dome, saying that the move was no different from “haggling.”
Yang said that the standards were designed by three retired Japanese consultants and that they lack a scientific basis.
The city government’s safety standards are unreasonable, as it is impossible for all five buildings in the complex to reach capacity at the same time, Yang said.
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