National spatial planning should not be reduced to a supportive scheme to land development policies, environmental groups told a news conference yesterday, urging the government to prioritize brownfield instead of farmland in constructing new scientific parks.
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) — then the Ministry of Science and Technology — designated an additional 1,000 hectares of land for scientific park use when the Executive Yuan approved the National Spatial Plan in 2018.
The effort was continued in a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) report of scientific park development initiatives proposed by the NSTC in May based on the Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli Great Silicon Valley Plan and the Greater Southern New Silicon Valley Promotion Plan, with 2,000 hectares more to be added by 2050.
Photo: Huang Yi-ching, Taipei Times
The 1,000 hectares to be allocated by 2036 — which would increase the total scientific park land use to 5,440 hectares — might not be sufficient for actual industrial demand, given that current land for scientific park use, either in operation or under planning or development, has reached 5,341 hectares nationwide, the report said.
Therefore, 2,000 hectares more are required to boost the total area to 7,440 hectares to maintain Taiwan’s leading status in the global semiconductors and artificial intelligence sectors by providing enough land for new plants, it said.
Government Watch Alliance chief executive officer Hsu Hsin-hsin (許心欣) said the land chosen for the two “Silicon Valley” plans does not accord with local land use zoning in each administrative area.
The NSTC should not encroach on farmland for scientific park development in breach of the National Spatial Plan, she said.
Hsu cited Central Taiwan Science Park’s (CTSP) Erlin Science Park as an example, saying that agricultural workers were forced to leave the region when the government expropriated more than 600 hectares of farmland to build the park.
However, the science park has been left unused with few companies moving in, she said.
Hsu cited Taiwan Hsinchu Foundation chairman Sam Lin (林聖崇) as saying that brownfield — polluted land — should be prioritized in scientific park land use.
For example, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has set up new plants at CPC Corp, Taiwan’s polluted plant sites in Kaohsiung’s Houjin (後勁) areas, Lin was cited as saying.
Eyes on Pollution of CTSP secretary-general Hsu Wan-ling (徐宛鈴) said the newly proposed land addition should adhere to national spatial planning.
She also cited the National Land Management Agency as saying at the previous environmental impact assessment (EIA) meeting that “national spatial planning would be adjusted based on SEA conclusions.”
National spatial planning should not be reduced to supportive schemes for the Executive Yuan’s or the NSTC’s policies, Hsu Wan-ling said.
The NSTC yesterday said that allocating more land for potential industrial demand is necessary to retain high-tech industries and relevant investments in Taiwan.
The proposal is at its preliminary stage and further environmental impact assessments, as well as prior communications with local stakeholders, would be conducted for each scientific park construction project, it said.
The EIA committee yesterday at a meeting requested that the use of polluted land be prioritized in future scientific park developments.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS