Taichung City officials from across party lines called on the legislature yesterday to pass an amendment that would allow the city, which is now classified as a "provincial municipality," to be reclassified as a "special municipality" entitled to a larger budget and staff.
Led by Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) and Taichung City Council Speaker Chang Hung-nien (張宏年), dozens of city councilors visited Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to make their appeal to upgrade the city.
"We want to include a clause in Article 4 of the Local Government Act (
PHOTO: CNA
On May 4, the legislature passed an amendment to the act granting special municipality privileges to counties with a population of more than 2 million residents.
Taipei County is the only county in the nation that meets the population requirement.
The Taichung officials requested that cities with populations of more than 1 million residents be included in the act.
Hu said that Taichung City was already qualified to become a special municipality because its population density of 6,391 people per square kilometer is the third-highest in the country behind Kaohsiung City's 9,862 and Taipei City's 9,684.
Special municipalities are the highest classification of the three levels of local governments. Counties and provincial municipalities constitute the second-highest classification, while townships and county municipalities are the third.
Taipei City and Kaohsiung City are special municipalities under the direct jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan and hold separate elections.
"We really need a special municipality in central Taiwan so that the government's resources will not be so heavily focused on northern and southern Taiwan," Chang said.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT: Taipei authorities warned against drunk cycling after a sharp rise in riding under the influence, urging greater public awareness of its illegality Taipei authorities have issued a public warning urging people not to ride bicycles after consuming alcohol, following a sharp rise in riding under the influence (DUI) cases involving bicycles. Five hundred and seven people were charged with DUI last year while riding YouBikes, personal bicycles, or other self-propelled two-wheelers — a fourfold increase from the previous year, data released by the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division showed. Of these, 33 cases were considered severe enough to be prosecuted under “offenses against public safety,” the data showed. Under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), bicycles — including YouBikes and other
RSS