Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday halted the National Property Administration’s plan to invite bids on state-owned land in Taipei City next week after legislators expressed concern that the bidding would contribute to price gouging among construction companies and realtors.
Wu said on the legislative floor that he had suspended the bids because the public had reacted negatively to soaring real estate prices in Taipei.
“The government should not add fuel to the flames by helping with price gouging,” he said.
Wu made the remarks in response to criticism from legislators across party lines after several pieces of state-owned property sold at record-high prices in bids held by the property administration.
A 121.3 ping (401m2) plot of state-owned land on Jianguo S Road in Da-an District (大安) sold for NT$731 million (US$22.8 million) last Thursday, more than NT$6 million per ping.
Another plot of land — measuring 319.44 ping — sold for NT$958 million in another bid on the same day.
The record-high prices also drew criticism from Wang Yao-shing (王耀興), chairman of the Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), who said on Friday that the prices were “ridiculous.”
Wang said the government should suspend plans to sell government property to stop the bids from contributing to skyrocketing real estate prices.
The National Property Administration had scheduled bids on 13 pieces of government property in the city next Thursday.
Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) said on the legislative floor that the government would never participate in real estate price gouging by selling government land.
Lee said the record-high prices were the result of “market mechanisms,” adding that it was necessary for the government to review its policy of selling state-owned property.
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
NINTH MONTH: There were 11,792 births in Taiwan last month and 15,563 deaths, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, household registration data showed Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data. Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
RSS