Environmental groups yesterday urged the Taichung City Government to cancel the Tungho Industrial Park (通和產業園區) project, saying that it is a rehash of the closed Ching Chuang Kang Industrial Park (清泉崗產業園區) project and should not have entered the environmental impact assessment (EIA) review process.
Government Watch Alliance chief executive officer Hsu Hsin-hsin (許心欣) said the habitats of ring-necked pheasants and leopard cats in Dadu Mountain (大肚山) would be fragmented by the proposed nearly 20-hectare project area, which is long and narrow in shape.
She also condemned the city government for failing to extend the regulatory force of the Autonomous Ordinance for the Conservation of Leopard Cats in Taichung (臺中市石虎保育自治條例) to private construction projects as much as to public developments.
Photo courtesy of the groups
Taiwan Academy of Ecology secretary-general Liang Yu-feng (梁羽楓) said that ring-necked pheasants are an endemic subspecies and have almost disappeared from low-lying areas due to urban development.
Data from the Taichung Wildlife Conservation Association showed the bird species’ population declined to about 50 last year from fewer than than 100 in 2020, she said.
There are only three isolated populations left nationwide, Liang said, adding that the population in Dadu Mountain is the smallest.
The region is also a hot spot for leopard cats, which would not have existed without the efforts of dedicated local agricultural workers, she added.
Taiwan Tree Protection Alliance founder Angela Chang (張美惠) said the industrial park’s wastewater would be discharged into Wufu Irrigation Canal (五福圳), the water of which is channeled from the Dajia River (大甲溪) to irrigate local rice fields.
Clean Air Taichung Alliance director Lin Shih-shan (林詩珊), who is also a local resident, said that Dadu Mountain is demarcated as a Category 3 agricultural development zone in the city’s spatial plan, meaning that only agricultural developments are allowed.
The Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau should explain why it allowed a project aiming to use agricultural development land for nonagricultural purposes to enter the EIA review process, she said.
New Power Party (NPP) Taichung chapter chief executive officer Tsou Ming-yen (鄒明諺) said the project’s scope and area are almost the same as the Ching Chuang Kang Industrial Park construction project, which was proposed in 2022 and failed to pass its EIA review.
The NPP filed a criminal complaint against then-developer Chuangli Development Co for allegedly forging documents in its EIA report three years ago, he said.
However, the supervisor of the company, Wang Sung-shan (王松山), was found to also be the person in charge of Chiuting Property Co, the developer of the Tungho Industrial Park construction project, Tsou said.
According to the environmental groups’ news release and an NPP Instagram post on July 14, Wang is on close terms with former Non-Partisan Solidarity Union legislator Yen Ching-piao (顏清標) and his eldest son, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恆).
Yen Kuan-heng’s brother, Yen Chia-yi (顏嘉儀), was a board director of Chuangli Development, the NPP said.
The Wang and Yen families are behind the two projects, and their manipulation of land developments like this and EIA review represents a local systemic “black gold” force, it said.
Development in Taichung should benefit its citizens, not family businesses, the NPP said, urging the city government to cancel the project.
The Tungho Industrial Park project was reviewed in two EIA meetings in November last year and in June, with the developer asked to submit supplementary documents for further review.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
RSS