Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) yesterday lauded the transfer of jurisdiction over the defunct Shuinan Airport (水湳機場) from the military to the Taichung City Government, saying it would "drive the development of the city."
"Taichung residents' dream has come true. They will always appreciate the president's benevolent policy in this regard," Hu said during the handover ceremony, which was also attended Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and Minister of Defense Lee Tien-yu (李天羽).
Shuinan Airport was built as a military airport during the Japanese colonial period.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The Air Force took over the management of the airport after World War II, establishing a logistic command center and an aviation industrial development center at the site. However, the airport's major facilities were moved to the Chingchuankang Airport (
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) promised Hu in June that the military would complete the removal of the remaining facilities by the end of this year and give the city government jurisdiction over the land's development.
Hu said that since 2004, the city government has drafted plans to develop it into a modern urban center that will house a university, a trade exhibition center, an exclusive residential district and a forest park.
In a separate setting, Chen urged the legislature to pass three amendments that would lead to the merger of Taichung County and Taichung City and promote Taichung into a special municipality that would be entitled to additional resources, budget and personnel.
Taichung residents would be able to elect the first mayor of the municipality of Taichung in 2009 if the legislature passes the administrative zoning law (
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach