Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"I think we should give priority to flight safety. Other concerns are of minor importance," Ma said in Taipei County's Rueifang Township (瑞芳).
Ma was asked to comment on a Chinese-language China Times story published yesterday, that said the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) had completed a proposed amendment to the height limit of buildings in the areas surrounding the airport at the request of the Cabinet.
PHOTO: CNA
The story said the MOTC proposed to change the current 60m height limit to 90m, which would apply to buildings within a 3km radius of the ends of the runway -- east to Nangang Train Station, west to the Danshui River, north to Dazhi (大直) and south to Zhongxiao E Rd.
The new regulation would allow structures that are about 10 stories higher than existing buildings within the area, the report said, adding that this could boost real estate prices.
However, height restrictions between Minquan E Rd and Minzhu E Rd, which are adjacent to the airport, would remain because aircraft must be at least 90m above ground for pilots to estimate descent distances with the naked eye, the story said.
Nevertheless, Ma said yesterday that relaxing the limit was an "incorrect" move.
"I don't support relaxation of the height limit because this could compromise flight safety," he said, adding that the Cabinet could be using the issue for electoral reasons.
The story also cited an unidentified "plane expert" as saying that the Cabinet's plan may make it impossible for the airport to handle cross-strait flights because the concentration of tall buildings surrounding the airport may prevent larger planes from taking off and landing there.
Asked to comment, Ma, who has proposed the direct flight airport policy, reiterated the positive effects on local businesses that could result from allowing the airport to operate direct flights to South Korea, Japan and China.
Ma also dismissed speculation that the KMT's removal of the so-called "1992 consensus" from its draft mission statement for next year had resulted in friction with former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
"There is no wrangling between different approaches within the party," Ma said. "Our not including it [the consensus] in an annual document led to some misunderstanding that we may have changed this policy, but this is not the case."
"The `1992 consensus' is written into our party platform. It will not change, so it's a non-issue" Ma said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS