Starting in Taipei today, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) is visiting 19 sites that have been proposed as possible new locations for the Legislative Yuan.
You yesterday thanked the local governments, saying that he would assess the viability of each location.
The building that houses the Legislative Yuan has for years been fraught with problems, which prompted You to establish a committee that would propose a solution.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
All proposals are to be discussed by party representatives before a decision is reached.
Relocating the legislature might take a decade or two, but it “has to start somewhere,” You said, adding that he hopes to get opinions and professional assessments from every sector.
You and committee convener Lin Jou-min (林洲民) yesterday explained their location search-and-selection process to reporters.
Over the past 30 years, 15 locations have been proposed, You said, adding that rebuilding on the current site was one of them.
Five of the proposed locations are in Taipei: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the 202nd Arsenal and Joint Logistics Command, Huashan 1914 Creative Park, the former Air Force Command Headquarters and the Huaguang Community, he said.
You said he welcomed four recent proposals from Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲): the Taipei Military Police building, the Taipei Reserve Command, the vehicle tow yard in Wanhua District (萬華) and the Chientan Youth Activity Center.
You plans to visit the New Taipei City Government on Thursday next week, followed by the Taichung City Government, the Changhua County Government and the Yilan County Government.
You said he would keep an open mind and ask a lot of questions.
This is not the first time that moving or rebuilding the legislature has been discussed, as there was a proposal in 1990 to move the legislature to the now-defunct Huashan Station.
The proposal was passed in 1992, but then abandoned because the budget was cut by the next legislature.
In 1999, the former Air Force Command Headquarters was proposed and a special budget was passed for the project.
That plan also fell through after the Taipei City Council opposed urban development changes and disaster relief became the priority following the 921 Earthquake.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
ENHANCED SECURITY: A Japanese report said that the MOU is about the sharing of information on foreign nationals entering Japan from Taiwan in the event of an emergency The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Japan had signed an agreement to promote information exchanges and cooperation on border management, although it did not disclose more details on the pact. Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said the ministry is happy to see that the two nations continue to enhance cooperation on immigration control, in particular because Taiwan and Japan “share a deep friendship and frequent people-to-people exchanges.” “Last year, more than 7.32 million visits were made between the two countries, making it even more crucial for both sides to work closer on immigration and border control,” he said. Hsiao
RSS