The government is scheduled to reopen parts of Taroko National Park to tourists by end of the year, after an earthquake that measured 7.2 on the Richter scale struck Hualien on April 3 and severely damaged some parts of the park, Minister of Transportation and Communications Li Meng-yen (李孟諺) said yesterday.
“Closing Taroko National Park to tourists affects not only Hualien County, but also the motivation of international tourists to come to Taiwan, as it is considered the Grand Canyon of Asia and many foreigners visit Taiwan just to see it,” Li said.
“We have set a goal of repairing the section from east of Changchun Shrine (長春祠) to Taroko Arch Gate before the end of this year. It is a less risky and safer section, and the road access can be repaired and reopened. Hualien simply cannot survive without Taroko National Park,” he added.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Aside from Taroko Gorge, the ministry might also promote other tourist attractions in Hualien that might appeal to domestic tourists, such as Chisingtan (七星潭), Liyu Lake (鯉魚潭) as well as Fuli (富里), Yuli (玉里) and Dongli (東里) townships, Li said.
“The three townships are known as the home of artists and creative industry workers, and railway tourism. They have yet to become famous among international tourists, but they could be tourist attractions for domestic travelers,” Li said.
On whether the ministry should stop working on fragile highways in mountainous areas, Li said that some of them need to be fixed in a short period, as they are access roads for residents of villages nearby.
Farmers need to access these roads to deliver their agricultural products, he said.
“However, many of these roads were constructed by cutting through slopes and river valleys, and could collapse through years for various reasons,” Li said. “In the long run, we need to find safer routes, but for now we need to bolster the safety of existing routes and reduce casualties, either by building tunnels or reinforcing slopes.”
Meanwhile, Li said the ministry would step up efforts to attract international tourists in the second half of this year.
A total of 4.1 million international tourists have visited the nation so far this year, he said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation attracted approximately 11 million international visitors per year, including those from China.
“We hope that China could soon lift the ban on group tours to Taiwan, and they could begin by allowing group travelers to visit Kinmen and Lienchiang counties,” Li said.
Due to a nationwide economic downturn, China asked its people to travel within the country and hoped that Taiwanese tourists would go there to boost its economy, Li said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS