The Taipei City Government has listed 141 dormitories that housed the US military on Yangmingshan during the 1950s as historical buildings and will preserve the compound as part of the city’s cultural and historical heritage.
The housing compound, located in Shanzihou Township (山仔后) on Yangmingshan, was built by the US military after the Korean War broke out in 1950. Twenty-two of the 141 dormitories were recognized as historical buildings in 2006. On Friday the city government decided to preserve the entire compound.
The adjacent building, which housed the South African embassy, and the location where the “Liu Tzu-jan (劉自然) Incident” occurred were also listed as cultural heritage sites by Taipei City’s Cultural Affairs Department during a meeting of the cultural assets review committee on Friday.
The “Liu Tzu-jan Incident” refers to the killing of Taiwanese Major Liu Tzu-jan by a US official in the 1950s. Taiwanese were furious over the killing and attacked the US embassy.
The committee members agreed that the housing compound in Shanzihou and adjacent buildings represented the period when the US military helped defend the nation, with the architectural style of the building being inspired by the southern US.
The local community in Shanzihou had been pushing for the department to preserve the housing compound after Bank of Taiwan, which was authorized by the government to look after the compound, said it planned to sell the land and buildings to a private owner in 2005.
Teng Wen-tsung (鄧文宗), a division chief at the cultural affairs department, said that in addition to the dormitories, streets and other buildings — including bomb shelters and a helicopter apron — would also be preserved and protected.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
EARTHQUAKE: Taipei and New Taipei City accused a construction company of ignoring the Circular MRT’s original design, causing sections to shift by up to 92cm The Taipei and New Taipei City governments yesterday said they would seek NT$1.93 billion (US$58.6 million) in compensation from the company responsible for building the Circular MRT Line, following damage sustained during an earthquake in April last year that had shuttered a section for months. BES Engineering Corp, a listed company under Core Pacific Group, was accused of ignoring the original design when constructing the MRT line, resulting in negative shear strength resistance and causing sections of the rail line between Jhonghe (中和) and Banciao (板橋) districts to shift by up to 92cm during the April 3 earthquake. The pot bearings on
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
RSS