A discussion on the issue of sustainable land use and relevant policies was held in Taipei yesterday in the wake of a recent slew of controversies involving land expropriation.
The issues discussed included water distribution, a decline in agriculture and environmental degradation caused by unsuitable land development.
Thomas Chan (詹順貴), an attorney who has worked closely with environmental groups, told the Taiwan Thinktank-hosted forum that the main source of these problems was the lack of a clear national land-use policy, which he said leads to industrial and energy policy disorder.
Chan said that instead of the government surrendering its rights and selling land to corporate developers, a policy of integrated sustainable planning should be prioritized to protect the -environment and public land usage rights.
Greater Kaohsiung Urban Development Bureau Director--General Lu Wei-ping (盧維屏) agreed there were loopholes in current regulations as well as practical problems in the execution of these laws. One example he cited was the high cost of prosecuting long-term and short-term violators who convert high-quality farmland into factories or businesses, violations that are often welcomed by local residents because they bring job opportunities and products.
Tainan Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮), a former Construction and Planning Agency -director--general, said a national land-planning act should include an integrated land management mechanism, a clear industrial layout, a plan for environmental resources readjustment and a development index to achieve further environmental restoration.
Council for Economic Planning and Development associate researcher Michael Hu (胡以祥), meanwhile, highlighted the -unbalanced development between southern and northern Taiwan, as well as between rural and urban areas.
He said integrated transportation plans were necessary to balance regional development.
Lin said the five special municipalities should challenge the central government by forming regional alliances and strive for predominance in regional planning to improve the situation of unbalanced development.
On the issue of water distribution, Hu said the country does not need more reservoirs to solve water shortages. Rather, Hu said, the government should focus on dredging silted-up reservoirs and devising water distribution plans, such as channeling water from northern Taiwan to southern Taiwan, or building water collection ponds, he said.on ponds, he said.
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
The US-Japan joint statement released on Friday not mentioning the “one China” policy might be a sign that US President Donald Trump intends to decouple US-China relations from Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said. Following Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the US and Japan issued a joint statement where they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Trump has not personally brought up the “one China” policy in more than a year, National Taiwan University Department of Political Science Associate Professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民)
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT