Plans for an observation platform at a Nantou County waterfall have drawn fire from critics who say it will damage a forest and conflict with the area’s natural surroundings.
The Nantou County Government recently announced plans to build a cantilever-type observation platform at the Rueilong Waterfall (瑞龍瀑布) in Jhushan Township (竹山).
However, critics posted an open letter on Facebook to Nantou County Commissioner Lin Ming-chen (林明溱) calling for the plans to be canceled, receiving the support of more than 700 netizens.
Screengrab from Facebook
The letter, which was available from Thursday until 5pm on Friday, quoted professor Lin Ching-chuan (林靜娟) of National Cheng Kung University’s Department of Architecture as saying: “A piece of forest can be so easily destroyed with NT$28 million [US$876,232].”
The letter called for platform design submissions and to not wait until after the completion of the current plans, which specify a structure taller than the glass slipper church in Chiayi County.
Netizens commenting on the letter said they hoped to see as little change as possible to the waterfall’s natural scenery, while Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said she hopes Lin Ming-chen will not “kill the chicken to get the eggs.”
Guangrong Borough (光榮) Warden Chen Wu-chiang (陳武強) said he hopes the surrounding forest’s natural skyline will not be disrupted by an artificial structure.
However, other Jhushan residents took a different stance.
Pingding Borough (坪頂) Warden Chen Feng-chun (陳豐俊) said he hopes the platform’s design goals will not be too lofty, while Nantou County Councilor Tsai I-chu (蔡宜助) said she feels the original design just needs slight modifications to achieve better balance.
In response, Lin Ming-chen said he would change the design plans after receiving a wider range of input from the public.
He said his only intention in announcing the concept design was to get input from the public.
He assured critics that the county government would adhere to the principles of “simplicity and harmony with nature in the design of public facilities.”
Lin Ming-chen promised to take the public’s ideas back to the design consultants, saying that large-scale or unpopular designs would be removed from consideration.
The current 6 tonne, 20m-tall concept design would accommodate 100 visitors at a time.
Designers titled it ruyi (如意) — a reference to the s-shaped scepter in Buddhist folklore that symbolizes fortune and power — to coincide with the waterfall’s name, Rueilong, which means “auspicious dragon.”
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