The chairwoman of the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (
Nita Ing (
"A certain small number of people in the task force had not looked at the reports prepared by experts on the track and had even gone as far to say the vibrations would impact the safety of the railway's operation," Ing said.
"This brazen verdict runs counter to scientific principles of careful verification of facts," Ing said. "The railway states its strongest opposition to the government's rough handling of the issue."
Ing was responding to comments made by Tsai Ching-yan (蔡清彥), minister without portfolio and head of the Cabinet task force handling the vibration issue.
Debate has escalated in recent weeks over the impact vibrations from the high-speed rail project may have on the manufacturing equipment of semiconductor firms in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (
Semiconductor firms Winbond Electronics Corp (
The railway, which is currently under construction, will pass within 200m to 300m of the nearest semiconductor firm in the park. Ing said the first error that led to today's conflict was made in early 1995, when the site for the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park was staked out very close to the proposed route of the high-speed railway.
According to Ing, the decision was made without consideration of the impact of the railway's vibrations. Indeed, officials charged with planning the park misread information on the problem provided by the high-speed rail's steering committee, she said.
Ing also lashed out at the National Science Council, which planned and operates the science park, saying it had treated "Taiwan High-Speed Rail as the source of the trouble" by insisting that vibration levels should only reach 48 decibels within 200m of the line.
In May 1999, the council, together with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and Taiwan High-Speed Rail said vibration levels should reach 68 decibels so contracts could be tendered and work started.
It was also agreed that within eight months all parties would work to lower this decibel level. But using special vibration dampening equipment, Taiwan High-Speed Rail predicted it could only shave off three decibels.
Ing also questioned why in July 1999 the science council promised those companies already committed to the park that it would provide cash and technology to help reduce the impact of the railway vibrations -- but not others that followed.
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS