Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday announced that the city government is planning to create 7,000 new social housing units, but refused to sign a letter of commitment to work toward the goal of providing 50,000 social housing units when pressed by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) city councilors.
The city government said in a presentation that it would add 7,000 social housing units during Chiang’s first mayoral term, which ends in 2026, but several city councilors accused him of “painting a rosy picture” without explaining how the plan can be achieved.
Chiang said that more than 4,000 units were built and construction began on 10,332 units during former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) two mayoral terms, so he expects to start construction on more than 2,000 units and complete more than 7,000 during his first term.
Photo: CNA
Asked by TPP Taipei City Councilor Huang Ching-ying (黃?瑩) where the 7,000 units would be located, Chiang said there are many ways to solve housing issues, such as rent subsidies or subletting and lease management programs.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chen E-jun (陳怡君) asked whether the plan to allocate 7,000 units was only a vague “rosy picture.”
As only 1,000 of them would be covered by government-led urban renewal projects, Chen asked where the remaining 6,000 units would be located.
Land is difficult to obtain for the construction of new social housing, but the city government would try to acquire it by offering a building bulk ratio bonus and focusing transit-oriented development, among other methods, Chiang said.
TPP city councilors Huang, Chang Chih-hao (張志豪), Nicole Lin (林珍羽) and Chen You-cheng (陳宥丞) presented Chiang with a letter of commitment asking him to promise to complete the units that were planned during Ko’s administration, and to work toward his goal of creating 50,000 units.
However, the mayor refused to sign the letter, saying that he had already made the promise and that they can discuss the issue further.
The TPP city councilors chanted “promises before the election, but chickening out after the election.” during the council session.
Their letter said that “the Taipei Mayor should sign ... to show his determination to realize his policy promises, and not chicken out.”
Taipei City Government spokesperson Yin Wei (殷瑋) said Chiang publicly said that the city government would work to achieve the goal of 50,000 new social housing units, so the city councilors did not need to use the term “chickening out” for political gain.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS