The Taipei City Government will not accept threats from corporations, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday after Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) stopped construction of the Syntrend Creative Park (三創園區).
“I strongly disagree with spending millions in advertisements to send a message to the city government,” Ko said. “The city government will not take threats from corporations.”
Hon Hai yesterday took out a half-page ad on the front pages of six major Chinese-language newspapers, following claims by Taipei city councilors that the NT$1 billion (US$32 million) 50-year lease the firm is set to pay for the site was too low.
Photo: CNA
In the ad, the firm said that the reasonableness and legality of its bid would “withstand any test,” calling on the city government to publicize all documentation related to the bidding process within 48 hours. It also announced that construction at the site would cease until the city government determines the legality of the bidding process.
Hon Hai’s ad follows controversy caused by several Taipei development projects which were outsourced to private contractors under previous administrations, with Ko promising to re-examine unreasonable contract terms.
”How could the corporation be so completely arrogant?” asked Ko rhetorically in response to the firm’s ad, adding that the corporation had acted as if “the country is controlled by corporations.”
“How could a corporation use this tone to speak to the government,” he said, adding that the city government would investigate the case at its own pace, while taking legal measures if the firm ceases construction.
“There’s no way all the documents can be publicized in 48 hours,” Taipei City Government Department of Finance Commissioner Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) said, adding that the documents would have to be checked to ensure that no corporate secrets were released.
He added that all related documentation would be sent to the Clean Government Commission for evaluation when it has been established.
Ko said yesterday that the Clean Government Commission would be established this week, with specific details due to be announced today.
“As we’ve been in the process of dealing with the aftermath [of the previous administration], we’ve uncovered many problems, but we’re still unclear as to the cause,” Ko said, in response to questions over whether he was seeking to speed up the investigation into possible corruption cases.
The commission was originally due to be established in March.
The Syntrend Creative Park is being constructed next to the Guanghua Digital Plaza (光華數位新天地) and was billed by the previous administration as a way to turn the electronics district into a “shopping heaven,” which would surpass Tokyo’s Akihabara District.
With construction on the main building already completed, the firm’s announcement will mainly effect construction of a skybridge to the neighboring plaza.
The city government required Syntrend to construct a skybridge following concerns that the new development would drain customers from the neighboring plaza.
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 —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
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