The Taichung City Government on Tuesday said that it would not hand over the Taichung Prefectural Hall — which was built during the Japanese colonial era as the seat of government for what the Japanese called Taichu Prefecture — to the central government to become the second exhibition hall for the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts as previously agreed.
Taichung Prefectural Hall was one of five major prefectural halls constructed during the Japanese colonial era. It was designed by architect Matsunosuke Moriyama, as were the halls in Taipei and Tainan, which are now the Control Yuan and the National Museum of Taiwan Literature respectively.
Turning over the building to the central government without any compensation is unacceptable, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said, adding that such a decision belittled the hall.
Photo provided by the Taichung City Government
The hall was supposed to be turned over after being renovated, she said, adding that the central government was providing NT$200 million (US$6.7 million) and the municipal government NT$300 million for the renovations.
The city government had received multiple complaints regarding the decision, which was made under former Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Lu said.
Lin had previously signed an agreement with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs to turn over the hall and “upgrade” it to a national-level museum.
After the renovations, the hall would not completely be used for tourism, as the city government’s Urban Development Bureau, Transportation Bureau and Environmental Protection Bureau would remain in the building, Lu said.
Aside from maintaining a city government presence in the building, other portions of it would be repurposed for tourism or culture-related events, she said.
By maintaining the hall’s historic status, the municipality hopes to draw more tourists to West Central District (中西), Lu said.
Lu also said that the city government would help improve infrastructure in the area.
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
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
RSS