People living near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday accused the government of rushing the review process for the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project, which they said was ill-conceived and had not incorporated any suggestions from civic groups.
The project covers an area of 6,859 hectares, of which 3,073 hectares are to be expropriated from private land owners.
The Taoyuan Aerotropolis Self-Help Association yesterday again questioned the necessity and public benefit of the forced expropriation plan, and called on lawmakers to freeze the project’s budget in today’s legislative session.
At a joint press conference in Taipei, Taipei National University of the Arts assistant professor Lu Wen-chung (呂文忠) showed a photograph taken by a surveillance camera of his late father, Lu A-yun (呂阿雲) — an 83-year-old farmer who killed himself by drinking pesticide on Nov. 9 — and said his father committed suicide because he could not bear the thought of being forced to leave his land and property.
Taiwan Rural Front spokesperson Tsai Pei-hui (蔡培慧) said that after the elderly farmer gave up his life to protest against the project, the Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency proceeded by holding 11 ad hoc specialist review meetings in 15 days — with very few committee members attending the meetings — as an apparent attempt to swiftly approve the project.
Questioning the necessity of expropriating their land when the aerotropolis’ new runway will not be designed and submitted for an environmental impact assessment until 2022, Taoyuan Educational Trade Union representative Peng Ju-yu (彭如玉) said that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in 1999 expropriated 176 hectares of private land in Taoyuan’s Dayuan Township (大園) for the Taoyuan Air Services Zone program, but the planned park area is still deserted.
“A wrong investment may be worse than corruption,” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said at the press conference, urging her colleagues at the legislature to freeze funding for the project until the government can clarify questions about its public benefits and necessity.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
Taiwan and the US have begun trade negotiations over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in an interview this morning before reporting to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the US, has already established communication channels with the US Department of State and the US Trade Representative (USTR), and is engaging in intensive consultations, he said. Points of negotiation include tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers and issues related to investment, procurement and export controls, he
RSS