Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) on Wednesday approved a Penghu County Government request to hold a referendum on whether to allow casinos in the county, Executive Yuan spokesman Su Jun-ping (蘇俊賓) said yesterday.
Su said the Executive Yuan would draw up complementary measures to ensure the casinos do not adversely affect the environment or the quality of tourism and public order.
AMENDMENT
The amendments to the Offshore Island Development Act (離島建設條例) adopted by the Legislative Yuan in January allow the construction of casinos offshore if more than 50 percent of an island’s population agree in a referendum.
The Penghu County Government in April submitted an application to the Executive Yuan’s Referendum Review Commission to initiate a referendum on the issue.
The initiative was launched by a business association in the county.
“The Referendum Review Commission has given a green light to the application and therefore Penghu County Government can proceed with the procedures stipulated in the Offshore Island Development Act for holding a referendum,” Su said.
In accordance with Act, Penghu County Government is required to collect 3,521 signatures, or 5 percent of the electorate in the last county commissioner election in 2005, within six months and send the list of signatures to the county’s Referendum Review Commission for examination.
Penghu County Commissioner Wang Chien-fa (王乾發) recently said that a referendum on the issue could be staged by August at the earliest.
LANDING VISAS
In related news, Su also confirmed a report in yesterday’s Chinese-language United Daily News that landing visas for Chinese visitors, currently available in Kinmen and Matsu, would soon be extended to Chinese visitors traveling to Penghu.
“Some Penghu County residents and lawmakers have been calling for such a move recently. Granting [Chinese tourists] landing visas would boost tourism in Penghu. That, however, will not be the deciding factor,” Su said.
He said the landing visa service in Penghu would not be implemented until the Ministry of the Interior’s Mainland Affairs Council and the National Immigration Agency came up with complementary measures to address security concerns.
Starting on Sept. 30 last year, the government began issuing landing visas to Chinese tourists visiting Kinmen and Matsu.
The landing visa allows Chinese tourists to travel to Penghu, but not to Taiwan proper.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
‘UNITED FRONT’: Some Taiwanese industry leaders had not initially planned to attend, but later agreed to do so after Beijing threatened them, a source said China hopes to rebuild its supply chain by wooing Taiwanese businesses at this year’s Cross-Strait CEO Summit (CSCS) to be held today in the Chinese city of Xiamen, a source said yesterday. This year’s summit would focus on “building a cross-strait industrial chain in the new era and promoting cross-strait economic integration and development,” promotional materials for the event said. The aim is to encourage Taiwanese businesspeople who have exited the Chinese market to return and invest there as a means of countering various technology export controls that China has been encountering, the source said. Former premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and
RSS