Campaigners yesterday accused Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) of benefiting a corporation owned by his father-in-law through revisions to the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project approved during his tenure as vice premier.
“Our suspicion is that [Chu] used his authority to unnecessarily expand the project in order to turn a piece of wasteland owned by his family into prime real estate that would be coveted by developers,” independent Taoyuan legislative candidate Wang Pao-hsuan (王寶萱) said at a rally in front of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) headquarters in Taipei.
Wang, who has long campaigned against the project, was accompanied by several members of the Taoyuan Aerotropolis Anti-Eviction Alliance and Taoyuan MRT A7 Station Self-Help Organization.
Photo: CNA
The Aerotropolis project’s original plans called mostly for the use of public land, with some private land needed for the construction of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s third runway, Wang said.
Plans to expand the scope of the project to include private land surrounding a nearby free-trade zone were approved by the Construction and Planning Agency during Chu’s tenure as vice premier, she said.
Chu served two terms as Taoyuan commissioner before being appointed vice premier in 2009. He has been the mayor of New Taipei City since 2010.
Wang displayed a zoning map showing that a “finger” of land extending away from the original free-trade zone was included in expansion plans, saying that the tip of the finger included property owned by Everterminal Co.
The corporation is owned by Chu’s father-in-law, Kao Yu-jen (高育仁), and Chu might have used his influence as vice premier to ensure the corporation’s land was included in expansion plans, she said.
“While the original value of the land was extremely low, if it is included in the expansion plans, Aerotropolis landowners would be compensated with land in the most valuable residential and business districts where the MRT is being constructed,” she said, adding that Chu might have sought to illegally profit from his father-in-law’s firm.
The expansion plans, which would triple the size of the free-trade zone, made little economic sense because of the zone’s poor performance over the past 19 years, which has led to the development of less than half of the existing zone, she said.
Wang said she has almost concluded talks on joining the Green-Social Democratic Party Alliance, with an official announcement possible within the next few days.
She ruled out joining forces with the New Power Party (NPP) because of its close relationship with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), adding that local DPP politicians had expressed support for the project and she was unwilling to “integrate” with DPP candidate Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) as required under NPP policy.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS