Penghu County could be developed into a chain of “green” energy islands with distinctive tourist attractions, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yang Yao (楊曜) asked the premier during a legislative session what the government is planning for the county’s development after casinos were turned down as an option in a referendum on Saturday last week.
Penghu has clean and beautiful landscapes that could be transformed into eco-tourism attractions and its islands can be given distinctive “green” energy features alongside further development of low-carbon projects, Lin said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsung, Taipei Times
“The county’s tourism could be upgraded if it featured ‘green’ energy and its beauty and special characteristics can be seen. We believe that Penghu’s natural landscapes and features have the potential to be turned into global attractions,” he said.
Yang asked the government to help the county build tourist sites in addition to existing venues — an aquarium, a geology museum, a crab museum and an ocean resources museum — and construct indoor facilities so that tourism can be maintained during winter, when the county sees a drastic drop in the number of visitors.
Lin said he agreed that winter tourism could be improved, but added that tourism-oriented islands would increase the added value of summer tourism and allow the environment to rest during winter.
DPP Legislator Chen Man-li (陳曼麗), who campaigned against allowing casinos in the county, said the archipelago needs sustainable development.
Penghu’s natural beauty would be protected if it is shielded from overdevelopment, but the county also needs economic development, as Penghu Commissioner Chen Kuang-fu (陳光復) said that his government’s annual revenue is NT$300 million (US$9.5 million), while its annual spending exceeds NT$5 billion, Chen Man-li said.
“What the county needs most is better transportation. Penghu has a total of 90 islands, and transportation between them, and between the county and Taiwan proper is crucial,” she said.
Penghu is actually larger than it seems “when you join its 90 islands,” Chen Man-li said, adding that Taiwan is a maritime nation.
An “ocean commission” has been planned, but not yet established by the Executive Yuan, Chen Man-li said and asked the premier for a timetable.
“There are two stages in the government’s restructuring plan, the first would be simpler mergers, such as the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission,” Lin said.
Establishing a “ministry of environmental resources” and an “ocean commission” would be handled in the second stage, he said.
“Whether the Coast Guard Administration, which is a big agency, would be included in the planned commission is still being debated, as some people are calling for a reconsideration of the commission’s positioning, which should be oriented toward ocean policies, strategic thinking and research.” Lin said.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS