The Taipei City Government vowed yesterday to prevent a new shopping mall officially opening on Friday unless it first passes a mandatory fire safety inspection and acquires an operating license.
"We'll do everything in accordance with the law, including issuing tickets if it doesn't obtain the related licenses or pass fire safety checks," said City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma made the remark in response to questions from DPP City Councilor Yeh Hsin-yi (
Yeh accused the city government of ignoring its responsibilities regarding public safety vis-a-vis Core Pacific City (京華城) -- a new shopping mall that is scheduled to open on Friday.
"I'm very curious to know why Mayor Ma has put the interests of a financial syndicate before those of the public?" Yeh asked.
Despite the fact that the shopping mall has not yet obtained an operating license, it began trial sales on Monday.
Although the main structure of the building has passed a preliminary safety inspection, it has not yet passed the second-phase inspection, which is conducted after interior furnishings have been installed.
According to standard procedures, the mall is not allowed to apply for an operating license until it passes the second-phase fire safety inspection.
Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), a spokesperson for the city government, said that the city doesn't give special favors to anyone when it comes to public safety.
"Take for example the showing of movies at the mall theater yesterday. We issued a ticket this afternoon because it had failed to apply for the appropriate permit even though no admission fee was charged," Wu said.
According to the Movie Law, Core Pacific City may face a fine of up to NT$600,000, depending on a final decision to be made by the Government Information Office.
According to Wu, the city had tried to persuade the theater to cancel yesterday afternoon's free showing, but managers there turned a deaf ear to its "friendly advice."
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT? The state department said that using routine celebrations or public remarks as a pretext for provocation would undermine peace and stability Beijing’s expected use of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech today as a pretext for provocative measures would undermine peace and stability, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. Taiwanese officials have said that China is likely to launch military drills near Taiwan in response to Lai’s speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims. A state department spokesperson said it could not speculate on what China would or would not do. “However, it is worth emphasizing that using routine annual celebrations or public remarks as a pretext or excuse for provocative or coercive
CONCERNS: Allowing the government, political parties or the military to own up to 10 percent of a large media firm is a risk Taiwan cannot afford to take, a lawyer said A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator has proposed amendments to allow the government, political parties and the military to indirectly invest in broadcast media, prompting concerns of potential political interference. Under Article 1 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), the government and political parties — as well as foundations established with their endowments, and those commissioned by them — cannot directly or indirectly invest in satellite broadcasting businesses. A similar regulation is in the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法). “The purpose of banning the government, political parties and the military from investing in the media is to prevent them from interfering
RSS