Legislators yesterday gave a preliminary go-ahead to an amendment that would make it easier for businesses to buy property and build tourist resorts on offshore islands.
The revision to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) passed its first review by the Economic Committee amid controversy from opposition lawmakers and environmental groups who fear it could lead to rampant overdevelopment on some of Taiwan’s pristine coastlines.
Proposed by Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Lin Pin-kun (林炳坤), the amendment would loosen strict land use requirements put on large-scale developments. It would also increase the amount of floor space bonuses local governments can award to land developers.
The proposal would also give local governments the authority to make decisions on large-scale developments not exceeding 50 hectares, a move that environmentalists said could lead to environmental impact assessments being conducted by less thorough local environmental agencies.
Lin, who represents Penghu County, said the proposal was essential to keep foreign investment in the county’s tourism sector from drying up after residents in November last year rejected a plan that would have legalized gambling.
“After the referendum failed last year, foreign companies and investors have said they want to pull out their investments. We are thinking of ways to ensure they stay in Penghu and invest their money in Penghu’s tourist hotels,” Lin said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said the revisions would unfairly benefit large corporations and overshadow the interests of the residents of Penghu.
If the requirements for large developments were lowered, it would have an adverse effect on the island chain’s fragile ecosystem and privatize a number of the county’s scenic coastlines, she said.
Lin rebutted DPP criticism that his proposal was meant to help corporations build casinos in Penghu.
He told a press conference that his proposal would give investors incentives to invest in the hotel businesses on the island.
“The proposal has nothing to do with gambling,” he said.
At a press conference held with Tien yesterday morning, Robin Winkler (文魯彬), an environmentalist working with the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, said only politicians and big business would benefit from the revisions.
Lin said opposition lawmakers misread his intentions and denied that the revisions were in connection with any future plans to hold another casino referendum.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats