A proposed expansion to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) compound in Taipei aims to reinforce the US’ “rock-solid commitment to Taiwan,” the AIT said on Wednesday.
“Due to the United States and Taiwan’s strong relationship, AIT plans to increase its staff to further support commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan,” an AIT spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement.
“The vacant land adjacent to AIT presents an extraordinary opportunity to provide for AIT’s long-term future growth in a single, central, and secure location and reinforces America’s rock-solid commitment to Taiwan,” they said.
Photo: CNA
The AIT, the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan, was responding to a media report that some of the local residents living near the AIT’s compound in Neihu District (內湖) were unhappy about the expansion plan, saying the land should be used to benefit the local community.
The AIT spokesperson said the land would be used for additional office and warehouse space, a recreational center for AIT employees and a parking facility.
Qingbai Borough (清白) Warden Chen Tung-yuan (陳東源) told the Chinese-language United Daily News that local residents had thought the land would be used to build a junior high school.
However, the Taipei City Government recently notified his office that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the AIT would hold a public hearing on Wednesday next week to explain the AIT’s proposal, the newspaper reported.
Chen said local residents were worried that the expansion would affect their quality of life and also wondered why they were not informed about the expansion project before.
The residents accused the central government of paying more attention to the needs of the US government than to those of Taiwanese, the report said.
The ministry in a statement said that it has been offering assistance to the AIT on its expansion proposal, but added that it would follow urban planning laws in doing so.
The AIT, a private entity managing US relations with Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, was formed in 1979 after Washington switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
It is headquartered in Virginia, but has a main office in Taipei and a branch office in Kaohsiung.
After operating for 40 years at its old offices on Xinyi Road in downtown Taipei, the AIT moved to the US$250 million compound in May 2019.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS