On Feb. 10 the Taichung City Government marked the completion of renovations to the historic Green River (綠川) that flows through downtown Taichung. The efforts were met with approval from city residents, but most of the applause was for the landscaping. Even more impressive was the overall planning.
In the past, as was widely known in the area, domestic sewage was discharged into the Green River and Taichung Park’s Sun Moon Lake — a pond naturally formed by the Green River — was stagnant and stank.
Under the renovation plan, domestic sewage is discharged to a newly established wastewater treatment plant that uses denitration and enhanced gravel contact. This facility, the first of its kind in the nation, was constructed underground, below Taichung’s Gancheng Park and Jianguo Market neighborhood with the help of the Environmental Protection Administration.
The facility can process up to 24,000 tonnes of wastewater per day. The clean water is then distributed back into the Green River and Taichung Park’s Sun Moon Lake, a creative aspect of the renovation plan.
As the facility was built underground, it has not impeded the park’s function as a recreational and resting space for the general public, another creative aspect of the renovation.
The part of the facility under Jianguo Market is to be accessible to the public via an underground observation corridor. When completed, people will be able to take a closer look at how wastewater is processed in the facility through observation windows.
Looking at sewage gradually turning into clean water, accompanied with information boards, will give people a better idea of how environmental protection works.
This educational aspect of the facility is another creative aspect of the plan. There have been criticisms of how long the renovation took, presumably because of subjective judgements over its appearance.
If people are made aware of the creative aspects behind the project, they would perhaps have a more favorable view of the local government, which has been careful and attentive in designing and planning the whole project.
Honda Chen is a senior secretary at the Environmental Protection Administration.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming
As China steps up a campaign to diplomatically isolate and squeeze Taiwan, it has become more imperative than ever that Taipei play a greater role internationally with the support of the democratic world. To help safeguard its autonomous status, Taiwan needs to go beyond bolstering its defenses with weapons like anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. With the help of its international backers, it must also expand its diplomatic footprint globally. But are Taiwan’s foreign friends willing to translate their rhetoric into action by helping Taipei carve out more international space for itself? Beating back China’s effort to turn Taiwan into an international pariah
Typhoon Krathon made landfall in southwestern Taiwan last week, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and flooding, cutting power to more than 170,000 homes and water supply to more than 400,000 homes, and leading to more than 600 injuries and four deaths. Due to the typhoon, schools and offices across the nation were ordered to close for two to four days, stirring up familiar controversies over whether local governments’ decisions to call typhoon days were appropriate. The typhoon’s center made landfall in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) at noon on Thursday, but it weakened into a tropical depression early on Friday, and its structure
Since the end of the Cold War, the US-China espionage battle has arguably become the largest on Earth. Spying on China is vital for the US, as China’s growing military and technological capabilities pose direct challenges to its interests, especially in defending Taiwan and maintaining security in the Indo-Pacific. Intelligence gathering helps the US counter Chinese aggression, stay ahead of threats and safeguard not only its own security, but also the stability of global trade routes. Unchecked Chinese expansion could destabilize the region and have far-reaching global consequences. In recent years, spying on China has become increasingly difficult for the US
Lately, China has been inviting Taiwanese influencers to travel to China’s Xinjiang region to make films, weaving a “beautiful Xinjiang” narrative as an antidote to the international community’s criticisms by creating a Potemkin village where nothing is awry. Such manipulations appear harmless — even compelling enough for people to go there — but peeling back the shiny veneer reveals something more insidious, something that is hard to ignore. These films are not only meant to promote tourism, but also harbor a deeper level of political intentions. Xinjiang — a region of China continuously listed in global human rights reports —
RSS