An uproar over the central government’s failure to hand over the operation of the Kaohsiung National Stadium — the nation’s largest arena — to the Kaohsiung City Government as planned showed no sign of abating yesterday.
Opposition legislators and city councilors rallied behind Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) in a show of support after she was accused by her Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opponent in the November special municipality elections of mismanaging the return of the stadium.
“The allegations against Chen are [groundless] and are an obvious election tactic,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) told the legislature in the morning alongside Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩).
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-I, TAIPEI TIMES
KMT candidate Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) said on Monday that Chen lacked the skills to negotiate the stadium’s return to the city and the municipal government had failed to deliver a comprehensive plan for future operations.
“It’s not the central government’s problem — Chen brought out an incomplete transition proposal and tried to arrogantly gloss over her responsibility,” Huang said. “It’s completely the result of Chen’s incompetence.”
The year-old, solar-powered stadium served as the main site of the 2009 World Games, but has been used only sporadically since then. It is under the Sports Affairs Council’s control, but had been scheduled to be handed over to the city government on Jan. 1.
Huang said there were as many as 47 problems with the stadium’s construction that needed to be addressed by the city government before it could be handed over and she rejected Chen’s assertions that someone behind the scenes was working against the transition.
“It’s clearly her fault and yet she says that someone is working against [her] … This type of implication is really terrifying,” Huang said.
However, DPP legislators said if the KMT government had wanted the stadium turned over to the city, it would have made it happen.
“Progress has been held back, because of what? — 47 errors, which have been blown out of proportion,” Chiu said. “There have been 33 inspection meetings since the stadium was completed and the council attended every single one.”
“They should have brought out these problems during their own inspections … but they only bring them up now when it is about to be handed over to the city government,” she said.
DPP Kaohsiung City councilors also accused Huang of “holding back” the city, saying her recent accusations were just the latest example of how she has inhibited the city in the 10 years she has been a legislator in the Kaohsiung area.
“Under the DPP administration, the municipal government had planned to create a modern music center as a new regional landmark, but in May 2007, Huang supported holding back the budget for it,” Kaohsiung City Councilor Hung Ping-lang (洪平朗) said.
“As long as something benefits Kaohsiung, Huang will oppose it for her own political reasons, sacrificing the rights of our city’s residents in the process,” Kaohsiung City Councilor Cheng Kuang-feng (鄭光峰) said.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung Deputy Secretary-General Yang Ming-chou (楊明洲) urged the central government to hand over the stadium as soon as possible.
Yang said the sports council did not have any problems with the stadium’s design throughout the construction of the facility.
“The city government has experienced engineering professionals and can coordinate [maintenance work] between different city government agencies,” Yang said.
“This is the best way to manage the stadium,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
PROCEDURE: Although there is already a cross-strait agreement in place for the extradition of criminals, ample notice is meant to be given to the other side first Ten Taiwanese who were involved in fraud-related crimes in China were extradited back to Taiwan via Kinmen County on Wednesday, four of whom are convicted fraudsters in Taiwan. The 10 people arrived via a ferry operating between Xiamen and Kinmen, also known as the “small three links.” The Kinmen County Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that four of the 10 extradited people were convicted in Taiwan for committing fraud and contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and were on the wanted list. They were immediately arrested upon arrival and sent to Kinmen Prison to serve their sentences following brief questioning, the office said.
‘REGRETTABLE’: Travelers reported that Seoul’s online arrival card system lists Taiwan as ‘China (Taiwan),’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday urged South Korea to correct the way Taiwan is listed in its newly launched e-Arrival card system, saying the current designation downgrades the nation’s status. South Korea rolled out the online system on Feb. 24 to gradually replace paper arrival cards, which it plans to phase out by next year. Travelers must complete the electronic form up to 72 hours before entering the country. The ministry said it has received multiple complaints from Taiwanese travelers saying that the system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in dropdown menus for both “place of departure” and “next
VIGILANT: Enterovirus activity remains in the epidemic phase, with the CDC urging caregivers of infected children to be on the lookout for signs of severe illness Influenza activity is rising in neighboring countries, and, with temperatures forecast to drop this week, flu cases are expected to increase in the next two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Hospitals reported 87,162 visits for flu-like illnesses between Nov. 23 and Saturday, which remained about the same level as the previous week, but nine deaths and 24 cases with serious flu complications were also confirmed last week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. Flu activity reached a peak in late September before declining for eight consecutive weeks, CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesman Lin Min-cheng (林明誠)
RSS