Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) filed a lawsuit this week against the director of the clinical research division of the National Health Research Institutes, Su Ih-ren (
Earlier this week Su said that the government's plan to build the park was primarily to coordinate with the development of THSRC's station in northern Hsin-chu.
He also said that the project has turned into a "black hole" as it has proved unprofitable to date and that Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), the president of the Academia Sinica, was partly responsible as he was the coordinator of the case.
In response to Su's claim, Lee said he was not involved in the decision-making process behind the scheme and demanded an apology from Su.
THSRC chairman Nita Ing (
The real problem, she said, extends from rivalries between different factions in the medical field.
The purpose of the legal action is to present and clarify the facts, she added.
Su said earlier that the establishment of the science would help finance THSRC's operation.
Wang, on the other hand, claimed that the National Science Council purchased the land from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) for NT$4 billion (US$125 million).
The ministry, however, did not list the revenue on the year-end balance sheet, he said, and claimed the proceeds might go to THSRC's account.
Independent Legislator Lin Wei-chou (
Lin said he believes Su did so to help the person in charge of the preparation of the park who is reluctant to yield the power.
Lin called Su's claim "a product of struggling for the authority to lead the case."
Meanwhile, the launch of Taiwan's first bullet train could be delayed after lawmakers released records about subsidence discovered in track sections in Miaoli County.
Yesterday the company invited lawmakers of the legislature's transportation committee and the media to personally examine some of the sections in question.
The company said 35 instances of subsidence had been detected and repaired. The company will continue to monitor the tracks and promised to improve the situation before he train is scheduled to begin operating in October.
"The train is our bread and butter," said Ted Chia (
Wu Fu-hsiang (吳福祥), director general of MOTC's bureau of high speed rail, said the contract signed later between the high speed rail bureau and THSRC dictated that the company has to gradually increase the number of trains and passengers within six months of the facility opening.
The contract also said that both parties have to set a definite date at some point during the six months, after which the company will run 60 trains a day.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
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Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash