Make democracy work for you
After two years, several twists and turns, and the efforts of Taipei City councilors Yang Ching-yu (楊靜宇) and Chen Hsien-wei (陳賢蔚), several parking spaces have been added along both sides of a section of the slow lane (about 100m) at the intersection of Zhiyuan Second Road and Xian Street in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投). In early May last year, these spaces were converted to diagonal parking spaces — and, to great surprise, only took two days to complete. By doing so, 25cm to 40cm have been freed up.
During rush hour, entering and exiting parallel spaces next to slow lanes is a major frustration. Since traffic volume is heavy at those times, major or minor fender benders can and do occur. The much more serious wrecks can be left to the imagination.
Diagonal parking spaces along slow lanes have three major advantages: It is easier to get in and out of them, and line of sight is not impeded, so drivers can see incoming traffic or pedestrians and avoid collisions — this is called “safety.” The center lanes have been widened 25cm to 40cm. This is what convenience is all about.
However, up to 90 percent of the parking spaces dotting the sides of slower, outside lanes are still parallel spaces. Logic would have it that when roads are repaved, this would be a perfect time to change them to diagonal parking, but this is sadly impossible for civil engineers. Until late last year, Beitou has had multiple sections of roads repaved, but the same old parallel parking spaces remain.
Many in the public sector continue to hold fast to a pessimistic maxim of: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, it is broke. If we could place more importance on public opinion, work toward improving society and adopt many of the good ideas out there, this would be a boon for ordinary people in Taiwan’s democratic society.
Yang Li-yi
Taipei
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
The US Department of State has removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” in its updated Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, which instead iterates that “we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait.” This shows a tougher stance rejecting China’s false claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Since switching formal diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China in 1979, the US government has continually indicated that it “does not support Taiwan independence.” The phrase was removed in 2022
US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have each given their thoughts on Russia’s war with Ukraine. There are a few proponents of US skepticism in Taiwan taking advantage of developments to write articles claiming that the US would arbitrarily abandon Ukraine. The reality is that when one understands Trump’s negotiating habits, one sees that he brings up all variables of a situation prior to discussion, using broad negotiations to take charge. As for his ultimate goals and the aces up his sleeve, he wants to keep things vague for
RSS