Restaurants and eateries on “exotic gourmet street” at Shida Night Market in Taipei yesterday shut their doors during the lunch hour to protest the Taipei City Government’s recent crackdown on illegal businesses in the area.
After hanging protest signs that read: “Why target only Shida commercial area? Is it fair?” on their doors, about 30 restaurants on Pucheng Street and Longquan Street delayed opening until late yesterday afternoon.
The move, restaurant owners said, was aimed at raising public awareness of local business’ contributions to the area.
Photo: CNA
“We are hoping that by closing our doors during the lunch hour, local residents and students will understand how inconvenient it is without places for them to go for lunch,” an employee at an Indian restaurant said.
Vendors’ self-help association spokesman Ker Yu-you (柯裕佑) said local business owners would continue their efforts in an attempt to ensure the survival of their businesses and he urged the city government not to make its top tourist attraction disappear.
The local residents’ self-help association, on the other hand, insisted that the city government should not allow illegal businesses to stay in the area, noting the air and noise pollution, as well as the public hazard caused by some shops and restaurants.
“Local residents are the real victims here. Illegal businesses should close their doors forever and give us back a clean and safe living environment,” association director Liu Cheng-wei (劉振偉) said.
Taipei City Government spokesman Chang Chi-chiang (張其強) said the city government’s goal of maintaining a safe and quiet environment for residents remained the same.
“It’s not our goal to eliminate the night market, we only target businesses that have caused serious public safety concerns and that have violated the regulations,” he said.
Disputes over the night market began after Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) announced in November last year that expansion of the market would not be allowed following a growing number of complaints from residents about the trash and noise vendors and customers caused.
In addition to noise and air pollution, some local vendors have also violated regulations as their locations are classified as a residential zone. According to land-use regulations, roads less than 6m wide in residential zones cannot be used for commercial purposes.
Taipei City’s Construction Regulation Office said it has issued notices to 91 shops in the area that have violated regulations. In addition to Shida, a coffee shop in Yongkang commercial area (永康商圈), another popular destination filled with small shops and restaurants, also received notice from the city government as it is located in an alley less than 6m wide.
Chang dismissed concerns that the city government is targeting specific commercial districts, saying the coffee shop in Yongkang is an individual case, because local residents had filed complaints against the shop.
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT: A new committee would investigate a backlog of US weapons sales to Taiwan, said its chairman, US Representative Mike Gallagher The US should formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, and end its outdated and counterproductive “one China” policy, US Representative Tom Tiffany and 18 other US lawmakers wrote in a petition. “It is time to change the status quo and recognize the reality denied by the US government for decades: Taiwan is an independent nation,” Tiffany told the Epoch Times. “As our long-standing and valued partner, correctly acknowledging their independence from communist China is long overdue.” The resolution also asks the administration of US President Joe Biden to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and to negotiate a bilateral free-trade
The Pentagon is preparing for US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Taiwan later this year, Punchbowl News reported on Monday, citing an official directly involved in the talks. US administration officials anticipate McCarthy would visit Taiwan some time in the spring, the report said. McCarthy had previously pledged to visit Taiwan if he became House speaker. He was elected speaker earlier this month. He had also said that he would have liked to join then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s delegation when she visited Taiwan in August last year. Pelosi’s 19-hour visit to Taipei marked the first time in 25 years
Taiwan’s Chou Chieh-yu (周婕妤) was crowned the Kamui WPA Women’s World 9-Ball Champion after shutting out British pool titan Allison Fisher 9-0 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the organizers said on Sunday. Following the championship win at Harrah’s Resort and Casino Atlantic City, Chou pocketed US$30,000 and became the first female competitor to hold both the 9-ball and 10-ball world titles since Briton Kelly Fisher in 2012. Chou, 36, won the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship in Austria in September last year after clinching a silver medal at last year’s World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, in July. “I’m very excited and it’s like
JOINT OPERATIONS: Participating in the IMET program, which offers professional training and education to military personnel, would boost Taiwan’s defense capabilities The US government is appropriating funding to help Taiwan participate in its International Military Education & Training (IMET) program to enhance interoperability and capabilities for joint operations of the Taiwanse and US militaries. The funding for Taiwan’s participation in the program is mentioned in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023, a US$1.7 trillion spending bill funding the US federal government for the fiscal year 2023. It covers funding for military support for Ukraine, defense spending and regions affected by natural disasters. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that IMET is an important US
RSS