Local governments nationwide have launched safety inspections on old residential blocks and buildings with mixed commercial use in the wake of Thursday’s deadly fire in Kaohsiung’s Cheng Chung Cheng (城中城) building, which claimed 46 lives and injured dozens.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Friday that while the Ministry of the Interior’s regulations require fire safety inspections for buildings of 16 stories or higher, the Taipei City Government has since 2014 mandated safety inspection for buildings of 11 stories or higher.
Ko added that Taipei has 124 buildings that are mixed residential and commercial properties.
The Taipei City Government on Friday said that new regulations are to be enforced from Jan. 1 next year, requiring safety inspections on buildings over eight stories or higher.
When told that only about 40 percent of all high-rise buildings in Taipei have management committees, Ko said that he is aware of the situation, adding that the city government has special advisory teams to help residents set up their own committees.
“Right now we can only use persuasion,” he said, adding that “amending relevant laws enforcing management committee requirements would be the most direct way to deal with the issue, especially for those old high-rise buildings.”
Separately, some Taichung city councilors during deliberations at city hall on Friday said that Taichung has many mixed-use buildings that have been deemed unsafe.
To prevent fires or other tragedies from occurring in Taichung, the councilors have asked the city government to present a report on ways of dealing with unsafe or old buildings, and to have listed it for the next agenda.
Taichung City Councilor Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that the city government initiate immediate fire inspections and compile a list of all old buildings in Taichung.
He also urged enhanced programs for fire drills and safety inspections, along with firm enforcement of regulations for street-level arcade walkways, which are commonly occupied by scooters, other vehicles or illegal storefronts.
Meanwhile, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) on Friday said that he has ordered inspections of 50 buildings in the city deemed to be old or unsafe, adding that officials have already found five buildings “at high risk,” having failed fire safety inspections.
“They have been told to rectify the violations and a deadline has been given. If no improvement is found upon further inspection, fines would be imposed, and names of the buildings and their owners would be published to warn people not to live there,” he said.
Additional reporting by Hong Jui-chin
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as