The National Science Council (NSC,
Failing in urging Vice Chairman Steve Hsieh (
Hsieh made the request to step down on May 8, one day after Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC,
The wrangle between THSRC and NSC over the rail line's vibration problems has been highlighted since late February, when Winbond Electronics Corp (
The Winbond decision was followed by several other DRAM chipmakers pulling out of the park, including Silicon Integrated Systems Co (
The high-speed rail line, which crosses the industrial zone, is scheduled to start in 2005.
For firms locating within 200m from the railroad line, the ideal vibration level was 48dB. According to the contract THSRC signed with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications the accepted level could be as low as 68dB.
Hsieh was the second NSC leader to leave the position because of disputes over the science park.
The NSC has tried to persuade the THSRC to reduce vibration levels of the rail systems by changing details of the construction of a bridge near the park, but their arguments were not accepted. Scientists for the NSC said that this was the only efficient method to solve resonance vibration caused by the passage of the trains.
The THSRC argued that the construction would be carried out based on the contract and its insistence received strong support from the Cabinet on May 8.
To show his resolution to take the responsibility for choosing the site as a industrial park, Hsieh decided on May 8 to leave the NSC, where he had worked for 19 years.
Wei said yesterday the announcement of a candidate to occupy the vacant position left by Hsieh was uncertain.
According to the council, the candidate should be familiar with both technology policies and science-based industrial parks affairs.
The director of NSC's Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park Administration (新竹科學園區管理局), Huang Wen-hsiung (黃文雄), is reportedly being considered by the council as a possible candidate.
Huang said yesterday that he had not been approached about the position.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
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An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
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