Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday said that the municipality’s landmark opera house will not reopen to the public until a formal ceremony early next year.
Lin, who on Dec. 25 last year became Taichung’s first mayor from the Democratic Progressive Party in more than 13 years, said that the “trial” opening of the National Taichung Theater in November last year came before construction had been finished and the new government must rebuild parts of it in a process that could take up to six months.
“Disputes with contractors and even compensation payments have ensued” because of the rush to open the theater before the Nov. 29 elections last year, Lin said at a meeting on infrastructure projects.
The city is now stepping up construction, but to ensure quality and safety, final checks on all the work will not conclude until November, meaning an opening early next year, Lin said.
Huang Yu-lin (黃玉霖), head of the Construction Bureau, said the new administration has discovered damage to the main halls, small auditoriums and outdoor areas of the landmark designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito.
Huang said that a large number of people toured the theater in November last year, but called it a “construction site” with “obvious public safety concerns” that should not have opened at all.
The first opera house built in downtown Taichung consists of a 2,014-seat main hall and two smaller auditoriums. The project took nearly five years to complete at a cost of NT$4.36 billion (US$141 million).
Taiwanese opera company Ming Hwa Yuan (明華園) gave a charity performance on Nov. 23 last year at the theater as part of an opening celebration, but the theater was closed on New Year’s Day by the new administration pending the additional work.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
RSS