Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said she hopes that a proposal to establish a sea lane transportation route along the east coast would resolve the decades-long traffic issue which has plagued the region’s residents.
Hsiao plans to propose the establishment of a sea lane connecting Suao (蘇澳), Yilan County and Hualien by ferry to ease the current railway ticket shortage and also to cut the commute people have to endure when traveling by highway.
“Once the sea lane is established, it will only take one hour to get to Hualien and the traffic situation along the Suhua Highway will be greatly improved. It will also help address the scarcity of railway tickets,” Hsiao told reporters during a visit to Hualien at the weekend.
The main transport link between eastern and northern Taiwan — the 118km-Suhua Highway – is built into cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean and is notoriously dangerous.
Transportation has long been a “nightmare” for residents in Hualien with railway tickets in limited supply and the coastal highway often being closed due to landslides during the typhoon season.
The ticket issue worsened after Taiwan relaxed regulations on cross-strait travelers, causing an influx of Chinese tourists to the region, Hsiao said.
Most young people from the region — which continues to see a population outflow — work in Taipei and return to Hualien to spend time with their families which makes commuting time an important issue, she said, adding that transportation was also crucial for the region which is known for its agricultural produce.
“Ask residents in eastern Taiwan and I guess more than 90 percent of them would support the proposal — or any proposal which would alleviate the transportation hassle” Hsiao said.
The lawmaker — who represents Hualien constituency — said the project would be a win-win situation for everyone and would help by splitting passenger flow, ensuring availability of transport links during typhoon season, creating another tourist attraction as well as reducing the commute time from between two to three hours down to one.
The costs for such a project would be a lot lower than building a land-based alternative and would be welcomed by the environmentalists, she said, adding that a ferry which could carry passengers, buses and trucks would answer multiple service needs.
There used to be a sea transport line between northern and eastern Taiwan and a Taiwanese company bought a second-hand ferry from Japan in 1975, called the Lupinus, which offered passenger and cargo transport between Keelung Port and Hualien. However, the once popular ferry line was forced to close in 1983 after the North-Link railway line went into operation in 1980.
Hsiao said she is worried that the project could be unprofitable due to high ticket prices and fuel costs and that the service would need to be fully government-funded or it would need to adopt a BOT (built, operate, transfer) model which would include private operators, but she says she is not planning on giving up.
The lawmaker said she would keep pushing the proposal in the upcoming legislative session and plans to organize public hearings on the subject.
“If the government offers transportation subsidies to residents on outlying islands, it would be fair to offer residents of eastern Taiwan the same,” Hsiao said.
“People in eastern Taiwan pay taxes just like those in western Taiwan. They don’t deserve to be treated like second-class citizens,” Hsiao said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as