The Executive Yuan is to build a NT$12.8 billion (US$447.52 million) national-level children’s recreational facility in New Taipei City to foster interest in science and technology, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
Su made the remarks in a speech after inspecting the site for the planned facility with New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ahead of Children’s Day on Sunday next week.
The National Children’s Future Plaza project is to be built on a 3.3-hectare plot of land worth NT$30 billion in Banciao District (板橋), Su said.
Photo: CNA
The project, which would be fully funded by the government, came about after a series of talks between himself and Hou, who as mayors of the special municipality had both thought of using the land for children, he said.
The plaza would emphasize science, technology and cultural education through play, he said.
It has the potential to become a landmark and an international tourism destination, as domestic and international visitors would use the adjacent Taiwan High-Speed Rail and Taoyuan Airport MRT, he said.
Hong Shih-fang (洪世芳), who heads the Ministry of Culture’s Cultural Resources Department, said that the plaza would have cultural activities, digital art and technology exhibitions, and a children’s theater.
The planners would study the Boston Children’s Museum, the Kids Plaza Osaka in Japan and the Digital Art Museum in Berlin as models for the plaza, Hong said.
Over the past two decades, the city has tried and failed to develop the land due to local opposition to build-operate-transfer schemes that relied heavily on private-sector contractors, he said.
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
RSS