The former office building of the Chinese-language United Daily News Group on Zhongxiao E Road was turned into a park last year, becoming a recreational spot for many of the area’s residents. However, the park will be replaced by a high-rise building in 2014.
An additional 72 parks around Taipei City could also be replaced by buildings under the “Taipei Beautiful” program, the Taipei City Government’s urban renewal project to beautify the city for the Taipei International Flora Expo, which concluded on Monday.
Under the program, owners of old buildings located within 500m of major tourist attractions and transportation hubs who agreed to turn the buildings into green spaces for 18 months are now eligible for a “bulk reward” of an extra 3 percent to 10 percent of their initial land size when they develop the site in the wake of the expo.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) yesterday accused the city government of profiting conglomerates and contributing to skyrocketing housing prices.
Kao said the city would create more than 20,000 ping (66,000m2) of land for the 73 urban renewal applicants, with potential profits totaling more than NT$12 billion (US$390 million) when the bulk reward of up to 10 percent is included.
Huang Jui-mao (黃瑞茂), board chairman of OURs, a non-profit organization that combats speculation and urban renewal projects that benefit private investors, described the program as a fraud that profited private investors and urged the city government not to sacrifice green space for the sake of gains for a few investors.
“The extra land covered by the bulk reward is a public resource, not private property, and the city government should not use it as a gift to conglomerates,” he said.
However, Chang Wen-te (張溫德), chief engineer at the Taipei City Urban Redevelopment Office, said the program aimed to improve the city’s appearance by encouraging private landowners to demolish old buildings, adding that it would be difficult to achieve this goal if the city government did not offer incentives.
The urban renewal committee would carefully review each of the 73 renewal cases before determining the percentage of extra land applicants would be granted, he said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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