Proposed expansion to reinforce U.S. commitment to Taiwan: AIT
ROC Central News Agency
07/05/2023 04:33 PM
Taipei, July 5 (CNA) A proposed expansion of the American Institute in Taiwan's (AIT) office compound in Taipei to land adjacent to the compound is meant to reinforce America's "rock-solid commitment to Taiwan," it said 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 told CNA in a email.
"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," the email said.
The AIT, the U.S. de facto embassy in Taiwan, was responding to a CNA request to comment on a report Wednesday that some local residents near the AIT's Neihu compound were unhappy about the expansion plan because they thought the land would be put to use for local residents.
According to the AIT spokesperson, the land will be used for additional office and warehouse space, a recreational center for AIT employees, and a parking facility.
Chen Tung-yuan (陳東源), who heads the area's Qingbai Ward, told the Chinese-language United Daily News that local residents originally thought the land would be used to build a new junior high school.
His ward office was recently notified by the Taipei City government, however, that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and AIT will jointly hold a public hearing on July 12 to explain the AIT proposal, according to the UDN report.
Chen said local residents were worried that the expansion could affect their quality of life and also wondered why they were never told of the expansion project before, and they accused the government of paying more attention to the needs of the U.S. government than to those of local residents, the report said.
Meanwhile, MOFA said in a separate statement to CNA that it is offering all the necessary assistance to AIT on its expansion proposal but stressed that it will follow related urban planning laws in doing so.
The AIT, a private entity managing U.S. 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 a 40-year run at an old site on Xinyi Road in downtown Taipei, the AIT's new Taipei main office compound officially began operations at the US$250 million compound in Taipei's Neihu District on May 2019.
The 14,934 square-meter, five-story office compound sits on a 6.5-hectare site within walking distance of the Neihu MRT Station.
(By Joseph Yeh)
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