MAYOR’S SONGSHAN PLANS: Ministers said that it might not be feasible to build high-tech facilities at the airport site if it is removed and there are logistical concerns
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Any plans to remove Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) need to be carefully assessed, government officials said yesterday, adding that international artificial intelligence (AI) firms might not find the site ideal for building computing centers.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) on Thursday last week said that airport should cease operations, with part of the vacated site turned into an AI park.
He said yesterday that he is willing to discuss issues related to the proposal with the central government, adding that the timing is right and the conditions are ideal.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo speaks at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign and National Defense Committee in Taipei yesterday.
Photo:George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Chiang’s proposal was scrutinized at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee later yesterday, with Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) asked whether he supported having an AI park built in the capital if Songshan airport was removed.
An AI park at the site would accommodate varied operators in the AI ecosystem, including software, hardware and IC design firms, Lin said.
Some firms might want to have their headquarters there, he said.
“However, companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海), Quanta Computer (廣達) and Wistron Corp (緯創) are not likely to build factories at a prime location in the capital,” he said.
IC design firms generally built their facilities near hardware or wafer plants, which are not typically near major urban centers, he said.
The most likely scenario is that companies would have their international headquarters in an AI park. For example, Nvidia is building its Taiwan headquarters at Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, Lin said.
Building AI data centers on the site would not be ideal either, Lin said, adding that the ministry favors Changhua Coastal Industrial Park (彰化濱海產業園區) or Asia New Bay Area (亞洲新灣區) in Kaohsiung for such facilities.
At a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯) cautioned that proposals to remove Songshan airport would need careful evaluation.
“Songshan airport is an important facility for Taiwan’s defense resilience in peacetime or at war,” Koo told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting. “It is an important hub for domestic air transport as well. Residents of outlying islands and the east coast seeking emergency healthcare need to land at Songshan airport to access hospitals in Taipei. It is also the rescue operation base for the National Air Service Corp.”
“We need to assess whether the functions of Songshan airport could be effectively replaced by a similar facility elsewhere,” he said. “We would provide professional opinions should the government begin evaluating the possibility of moving the airport to a different site to ensure that defense capabilities would not be compromised.”
Lin Kuo-hsien said that Songshan airport handles about 50 percent of Taiwan’s domestic air traffic, while 92 percent of domestic travel at the airport being to or from outlying Kinmen, Lienchiang or Penghu counties.
Demand for air transportation services during major national holidays are 1.5 times higher than normal, he said.
Songshan is also an airbase for private jets, he said.
As of last month, the airport had facilitated 1,185 private aircraft arrivals and departures so far this year, Lin Kuo-hsien said.
The nine hospitals designated for critical emergency care in Taiwan that are within a 10-to-15-minute drive of an airport are near Songshan airport, he said.
“Taiwan’s aviation safety and resilience are enhanced with two airports in northern Taiwan, providing greater flexibility for flight diversions and operational scheduling in case of inclement weather and other situations,” he said.
“Large metropolitan areas in other countries, such as those surrounding Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, London and New York, have two or more airports to meet demand,” he said.
Pegatron Corp (和碩) chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) said that he is against removing Songshan airport, instead favoring expanding it to facilitate regional partnerships with neighboring countries.
An AI park should be built in Danhai New Town (淡海新市鎮) in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), Tung said.
“If the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) can be reactivated, what it generates could power an AI park,” he said.
“Danjiang Bridge opened this year to complement Guangdu Bridge,” he said. “Along with the Danhai light rail system and new highway projects, there will be multiple transport links serving Danhai New Town.”
“Songshan airport is needed to facilitate the development of the area,” he said.