The fray over where a new exhibition hall should be built raged on yesterday as a DPP lawmaker openly threw his weight behind the Nankang Trade Park, saying other sites under review are no match.
Displaying government documents that rank Nankang as the favored location, senior DPP Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (
Shen, who represents Taipei, insisted that by speaking for the Nankang district, he sought to defend the discretion of Ministry of Economic Affairs's Board of Foreign Trade, not KMT Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"It makes no sense to halt work on the exhibition hall in Nankang, which enjoys geographic, industrial and other edges over rival sites," Shen told a morning news conference.
"I'm not playing a maverick. Rather, I just want to state my views on the issue, which should not be politicized," Shen said.
Nankang was designated nine years ago as the venue for the planned exhibition hall.
The project has the support of Ma and his two predecessors, Huang Ta-chou (黃大洲) of the KMT and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
But the Council for Economic Planning and Development recently said the site is not suitable on grounds it's not large enough and is prone to flooding.
Critics see the change of heart as a DPP attempt to embarrass a popular KMT rival.
Shen quoted an official survey as saying that foreign businesses overwhelmingly favor Nanking to a Taoyuan site, even though the latter promises greater development potential and improved infrastructure.
"Those firms prefer to have trade shows held in Taipei, despite its lack of an international airport," the lawmaker said. "They also say an exhibition hall able to accommodate 3,000 booths will suitable in terms of space for the next 15 years."
Council officials have said a bigger hall with 5,000 booths would help Taiwan compete with Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, all of which have equal or bigger exhibition halls.
But Shen said building a hall in Taoyuan would do little to pursue that end. The four-term legislator said he never spoke for his constituency in the past because he believes a lawmaker should approach public affairs from a national perspective.
The central government has pumped NT$9.3 billion into acquiring and developing the Nankang area for the hall. The legislature allocated NT$100 million for construction of the hall in the previous session.
"I've decided not to remain silent this time around," Shen said. "I urge all DPP colleagues with the same view to bravely make their stance known."
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