The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) yesterday vehemently denied reports that Chair-woman Nita Ing (殷琪) was planning to resign at the next board meeting due to continued criticism of the company's performance.
THSRC responded in a written statement to an article published in Saturday's edition of the Chinese-language United Daily News that interpreted comments by Ing as an indication of her intention to quit.
Ing told reporters last Friday in Taichung -- at the unveiling of the company's design for its high-speed rail carriage -- that the recent criticism of the project by several opposition lawmakers was directed at her and not at the company.
She said that she was fully prepared to shoulder all responsibility for the criticism.
The newspaper interpreted this as a hint that Ing might resign at next month's board meeting.
The company's statement said that there was no hint of such an eventuality in Ing's remarks.
The statement also said that a rumor circulating inside the company which confirms Ing's intention to quit -- and which was included in the newspaper article -- was a fabrication and misleading.
The company and the government has come under increasingly harsh criticism from lawmakers for seeking additional public funds to complete the project.
The THSRC, which has so far raised NT$49.9 billion in capital, is encountering problems raising the NT$132 billion needed to cover its end of the project's huge cost.
The Cabinet's Development Fund (開發基金) has contributed NT$5 billion in exchange for a stake in the rail line -- on top of an NT$280 billion medium-and-long-term loan which the government awarded the company in 1999.
The company has since blacklisted the reporter who filed the story and the United Daily News from its events, the statement said.
The company has also taken legal steps to formally request the newspaper to explain the report.
Ing made the remarks last Friday at the unveiling of the new rail carriages' design -- which will be built by the Japanese-led Taiwan Shinkansen Corp (台灣新幹線).
The ceremony was attended by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the proceedings were kicked off by Ing, who displayed a miniature model version of the 700T train, which will have 12 carriages and will measure 304m in length.
The train will be electrically powered and will seat 986 passengers who will be carried in one business carriage and 11 standard carriages.
It will be the first bullet train to be built by the Japanese that will operate outside of Japan. It will have a top speed of 350kph but will cruise at around 300kph, crossing the distance between Taipei and Kaohsiung within 90 minutes.
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