A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral hopeful yesterday called a press conference to defend his “Central Park” proposal in what appeared to be a last dash to the primary’s finishing line tonight.
A public opinion survey is to be conducted tonight to conclude the DPP’s primary.
DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) had proposed turning Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) into a 400-hectare grand park area to serve as the “green lungs” of the city.
Yao took the criticism of former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) about the airport closure project — his campaign’s “flagship program” — to heart, inviting architects who endorse the proposal to the press conference and urging Lu to “study the proposal before criticizing.”
Lu said that closing the airport would not be possible because of its proximity to the Heng Shan Military Command Center and the Yuan Shan Military Command Center, which are designed to withstand conventional bombing and nuclear attack.
She added that the Ministry of National Defense is also scheduled to move into a new compound in the area.
However, Yao said that having an airport close to the military compound could pose serious concerns to national security in the event of a terrorist attack.
He proposed closing the airport and transforming into a part that could revitalize the city’s old and dilapidated west side.
The 48-year-old is competing against fellow lawmaker Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) and lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄) in the poll tonight, which pits each candidate against Chinese Nationalist Party candidate and former Taipei EasyCard Corp chairman Sean Lien (連勝文).
The winner of the poll is to enter the second stage of the primary, which is to include independent hopefuls, National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and screenwriter Neil Peng (馮光遠). A final candidate will then be decided by another public opinion poll.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
RSS