A comprehensive plan for developing Kaohsiung City into an air and marine park by creating recreational facilities while maintaining the city’s business functions will be released within a month, the government’s chief planning agency said on Monday.
Vice Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Hwang Wang-hsiang (黃萬翔) said the five-year plan, to be released after the Lunar New Year, will aim to strike a balance in development between the north and the south.
The goal is to transform the port city into a commercial area like Baltimore in the US by expanding its services from port trade and business to tourism and recreation, he said.
“There has always been a big development gap between northern and southern Taiwan, and the government is keen to explore the assets of the Kaohsiung area,” he said. “This will be a flagship project in terms of the long-term development program being drawn up by the government for southern Taiwan.”
Hwang said the land in the northern area of Kaohsiung Port would be used for recreational and business facilities, while the existing buildings that house metal, petrochemical and precision machinery industries would be renovated to maintain the port’s city’s role as an industrial stronghold.
As to a trade and commerce park located near Kaohsiung Port, Hwang said the CEPD would suggest that the Ministry of Finance make better use of the land, as 250 hectares within the park are government-owned and have long been left idle.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three