Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) promised to facilitate the construction of the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) new office compound in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) despite protests from local residents and councilors, a US diplomatic cable released online by WikiLeaks showed.
In a meeting with AIT Director William Stanton on Sept. 14, 2009, Hau said the city government had already blocked a local school project at the site to “keep the door open” for AIT’s expansion plans, according to the cable.
In response to Stanton’s call for cooperation from the city with the AIT’s attempt to acquire land adjacent to the new office compound for future use — including housing for AIT personnel or a language school — Hau said that while the city could not sell the land to AIT, a property exchange with the government was possible, the cable said.
Photo: CNA
Taipei City Government spokesperson Chang Chi-chiang (張其強) yesterday said the city did not halt a school project to facilitate the office compound’s construction, adding that many school construction projects in the city had at the time already been cancelled because of a declining number of students, the result of a dwindling birth rate.
“The land housing the AIT’s new office building was legally acquired and the construction project proceeded in accordance with regulations,” he said, dismissing concerns about any measures taken by the city government to facilitate the project.
Construction of the new AIT building, which is set to occupy more than 65,000m2 of government-owned land on Jinhu Road in Neihu, is scheduled to be completed next year.
AIT has signed a contract with the Taiwanese government to lease the land for 99 years for NT$339 million (US$11.6 million). The complex will replace the AIT compound in downtown Taipei that accommodates about 200 US and locally engaged staff, and is protected by Taiwanese police.
However, construction of the AIT office will likely fail to meet the target completion date as obstacles delaying construction were believed to stem from a request by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration for information on the office’s structure and location, including plans about quarters housing US Marines.
The cable revealed that Hau urged Stanton to be aggressive in arranging such a swap with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he said was hesitant to take any responsibility.
Stanton is then reported to have expressed his gratitude for Hau’s foresight, saying that the new compound as a significant symbol of friendship and cooperation between the peoples of the US and Taiwan.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku
RSS