Supporters and opponents of a new zoning project involving the Chien Kuo Beer Factory (建國啤酒廠), which the Taipei City Government has designated as a historic site, yesterday morning staged separate protests outside the National Land Management Agency in Taipei.
Those opposing the plan say that such a controversial project should not be approved before the new government takes office next month.
Built in 1919, the factory, previously known as Takasago Ale Co, was the first and only beer factory in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial era, according to the Ministry of Culture’s National Cultural Heritage database.
Photo: CNA
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government took over the factory after World War II and renamed it the Second Beer Factory of the Tobacco and Liquor Corporation Bureau, which later became Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp.
The factory expanded its operations in the 1960s, producing more than 12 million 12 packs of beer per year at one point. Beer made at the factory also won multiple awards at international beer tasting events, the database says.
The factory was initially built using bricks, stone and steel, but facilities built in the 1940s were mostly built using bricks and steel trusses, and the architecture reflects the trend of the era, it says.
The factory’s buildings and manufacturing equipment should be preserved, as they serve as a testament to Taiwan’s cultural and industrial history, as well as the development of Taipei City, it says.
The Taipei City Government designated the factory a historic site in 2000. In 2018, the city government and Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp jointly announced that its would be transformed into a beer culture park.
However, the proposal was withdrawn last year. An amendment to the proposal presented by the Ministry of the Interior this year said that certain areas of the historic site would be transferred to the National Taipei University of Technology (NTUT) so that it could expand its campus.
Opponents said that the factory is unique and has huge tourism potential, because it has buildings, equipment and devices from the Japanese colonial era, and the goal has always been to transform it into a culture park.
Experts opposing the plan said that the zoning project should first be reviewed by the city government.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) accused Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) of being swayed by the NTUT Alumni Association, and causing the culture park proposal to be tossed out.
“There are university dormitories everywhere in Taiwan, but we are talking about a historic site that is more than 100 years old. Such a controversial zoning project should not be approved before president William Lai (賴清德) takes office on May 20,” Wang said, adding that there should be a hearing on whether the factory should be turned into a culture park.
The NTUT Alumni Association and supporters of the new zoning project said that the university, founded in 1912, is committed to restoring and revitalizing the historic site by working with like-minded groups and individuals.
In the 1970s, the university voluntarily reduced the size of its campus from 12.9 hectares to 9.6 hectares to facilitate the city’s development, the alumni association said.
However, the number of students in NTUT now exceeds 13,600, and its facilities do not have capacity for all of them, it said, adding that not having adequate facilities to accommodate students would limit the university’s research and development potential.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Shih-chien (王世堅), who supports the new zoning project, said that while it is important to preserve a historic site, it should not be grounds to cancel every development project.
“The factory is close to Chan An E Road, which is known for its restaurants selling beer and Taiwanese stir-fried dishes. Promoting Taiwan’s beer culture is the responsibility of the women promoting liquor in those restaurants,” Wang said. “This country has more important and serious missions, such as technology and educational development.”
Properties that would be transferred to the university only account for a tiny portion of the historic site, Wang added.
The agency said in a statement that NTUT and the Ministry of Education should strive to improve the feasibility of the zoning project by responding to questions on the preservation of the beer factory as a historic site and what they would do with the properties that would be transferred to them.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS