Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) yesterday called on Premier Lin Chuang (林全) to clarify a consensus announced by the Executive Yuan’s Eastern Taiwan Joint Services Center regarding a highway improvement project.
Fu asked whether the consensus — reached between the center and a deputy minister — was considered legally binding.
The center’s executive director Hsu Chuan-sheng (許傳盛) said that a cross-departmental meeting on Monday reached a consensus that the Suhua Highway Improvement Project would be completed by 2018 and would not be delayed or have its route changed, adding that maximum effort would be spent to conserve cultural heritage sites along the project.
The meeting was held between Hsu, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) and Deputy Minister of Culture Yang Tzu-pao (楊子葆).
The cultural heritage site in question is the Hanben culture archeological site (漢本遺址), which on July 1 was designated as a national heritage site.
Hsu said that multiple landslides along the highway caused by Typhoon Nepartak showed that there is an urgency to meet the project’s deadline, as the highway poses a safety risk to drivers and needs greater maintenance.
The meeting concluded that the project should endeavor to minimize damage to the heritage site and maximize conservation.
However, Fu said the center has never been clear on the improvement project, adding that the county government has not clarified whether the consensus would carry legal weight.
The people in the meeting do not have adequate seniority, and Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) is known to oppose the project, Fu said, adding that the premier should clarify the Executive Yuan’s stance on the issue.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS