The 76 year-old Giant Bicycle founder, King Liu, has commenced his tour of the Netherlands with the stated purpose to discover why 27% of the citizens in the Netherlands use bicycles for transportation.
Taiwan Focus Reports:
On the six-day trip, dubbed "Green World on Wheels, " the group will ride a 500-kilometer route to look at the cycling infrastructure of the Netherlands, which is known as a "cycling paradise." The riders will also study ways in which Taiwan can improve its cycling environment, said King Liu, 76, who is president of Giant Manufacturing and ycling environment, said King Liu, 76, who is president of Giant Manufacturing and chairman of the Giant Global group, the world's largest bicycle manufacturer.
I think Green World is quite an appropriate name for this junket as these guys must be high if they realistically think Taiwan's government is prepared and willing to bankroll the massive societal overhaul necessary to have Taiwan emulate the Netherlands. Taiwan first needs the police force to shift from an amateurish and corrupt civil force into a real law enforcement body. This means that Police would have to become active in upholding and enforcing and applying the law evenly, rather than passively waiting for an assignment which calls for them to enforce. How many times have we seen police stand idly by as a law is broken before their eyes and they don't flinch because it is not their assignment? This is really the first step. For most people, the roads are too dangerous to become regular commuters and the bicycle infrastructure is insufficient and even dangerous. Furthermore, Taiwan's government can talk as "Green" as it wants, but currently the central government has several industrial projects in the works that threaten some valuable ecosystems. Many of these projects are aimed at wooing Chinese business. Until these hard choices are made, Taiwan is not ready to put its money where its mouth is.
Enjoy your trip to Amsterdam! Everyone loves a vacation in the name of "research".
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