Taiwan’s northern county of Taoyuan will be upgraded to a special municipality next year, according to an ROC Cabinet decision Jan. 3.
“In the face of current domestic and international conditions, Taiwan must boost its competitiveness and promote balanced regional development,” Premier Sean C. Chen said.
“When Taoyuan is inaugurated a special municipality Dec. 25, 2014, it will act as a bellwether for the integration of high-tech industries and stimulation of Hakka culture in the Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli area,” Chen said, adding that it would also spur development of the transportation and logistics hub known as the Taoyuan Aerotropolis, while helping to equalize growth in urban and rural areas.
Chen directed the Ministry of the Interior to bring related agencies together to study measures needed to support Taoyuan’s change in status in terms of central and local government reorganization, the distribution of administrative powers and allocation of resources.
To this end, the MOI should refer to principles developed in 2009, when three new special municipalities were created, for handling legal amendments, finances and budgeting, property rights, personnel assignment and the duties of government offices, the premier added. The Cabinet will later determine whether a task force of ministers without portfolio should oversee the upgrading process, he said.
The rights of aborigines residing in Taoyuan must not be adversely affected by the county’s promotion in status, Chen stressed. The MOI and Council of Indigenous Peoples should work with the local government to delegate more authority over aboriginal affairs to district offices, he said.
Special municipalities are the highest level of autonomous local government in Taiwan. The five existing special municipalities are Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Taipei cities.
