A damaged support pillar on the Maokong Gondola system in Taipei’s Muzha (木柵) area should be relocated and the slope where it is located reinforced to prevent further erosion, four civil engineering associations said yesterday.
Based on the engineers’ advice, the Public Construction Commission said yesterday the reinforcement work on the site and the damaged pillar, known as Tower No. 16, must be completed before the next monsoon season.
The safety report was filed yesterday by four engineering associations after a one-month assessment of the site.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday that the city government would propose a planfor the gondola system after taking in account safety, the feasibility of construction work and available budgets.
Hau indefinitely suspended the gondola system’s operations on Oct. 1 after city councilors raised safety concerns because of the erosion around Tower No. 16.
The foundation of the tower had been damaged by flooding during a spate of typhoons. The base of the tower caved in after a landslide swept down the slope and into a nearby residential area in late September.
Engineering consultants found a 1.8m high hollow on the slope where the tower is located.
Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文), commissioner of Taipei’s Department of Economic Development, said the city had allocated NT$50 million (US$1.51 million) over the next six months to shore up the slope.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) met in Beijing yesterday, where they vowed to bring people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait closer to facilitate the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” The meeting was held in the East Hall of the Great Hall of the People, a venue typically reserved for meetings between Xi and foreign heads of state. In public remarks prior to a closed-door meeting, Xi, in his role as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said that Taiwan is historically part of China, and remains an “inalienable” and
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