In honor of Kaohsiung’s centenary, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) recently published a reflection on the city’s dynamic growth and emergence as a prosperous hub in southern Taiwan, expressing hope for its continued success into the next century.
Kaohsiung is unique in Taiwan, encompassing mountains, rivers, airports and ports, as well as MRT and high-speed rail systems, all within its city limits. Over the past few years, the central government has invested considerable resources in the city’s development. Despite concerns about rising housing prices, there is still widespread agreement that Kaohsiung is an increasingly attractive proposition.
In April 2018, during then-president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration, the Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) was established in Kaohsiung — the first government ministry to be set up in the southern region. Situated near the Port of Kaohsiung, the council symbolizes the government’s commitment to investment in marine-related initiatives.
However, since then, the region has not attracted any additional Cabinet-level agencies. The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA), established in 2022, was envisioned as a science and technology-driven, innovative agency with no specific restrictions for its office location. However, a report by the National Audit Office showed that MODA’s preparatory task force had intentionally limited its base to Taipei.
That said, we should shift our focus to future development. Creation of a ministry for sports was a key campaign promise of President William Lai (賴清德). It is expected to be officially established next year with a projected budget of NT$20 billion (US$626.9 million) by 2027.
In the wake of Taiwan’s achievements at the Paris Olympics, there has been considerable discussion regarding the new ministry, but its exact location remains unclear.
Kaohsiung is spacious with convenient transportation, and is already home to the National Sports Training Center and the Taiwan Institute of Sports Science, both on Shiyun Boulevard in Zuoying District (左營). A new ministry of sports in the same area would be highly significant, and the establishment of a second government ministry in the southern region would be a notable achievement for the Lai administration.
Today’s advanced communications technology would ensure effective coordination with other central government agencies, similar to what the OAC has achieved.
Furthermore, the Sports Administration on Zhulun Street in Taipei could be repurposed for MODA, which is still seeking a permanent office in the capital. This solution kills two birds with one stone, and saves public funds.
Lo Cheng-chung is a professor and director of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s Institute of Financial and Economic Law.
Translated by Nicole Wong
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
RSS