《TAIPEI TIMES》Airport proposals need care, officials say

The debate over converting Taipei's Songshan Airport into an AI park highlights a tension between urban development aspirations and practical considerations for technology infrastructure. While an AI park could host headquarters for software, hardware, and IC design firms, officials noted that major companies like TSMC or Hon Hai are unlikely to build manufacturing facilities in a capital's prime location. IC design firms generally build their facilities near hardware or wafer plants, which are not typically near major urban centers.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs specifically suggested that building AI data centers at the Songshan site would not be ideal, favoring alternative locations such as Changhua Coastal Industrial Park or Asia New Bay Area in Kaohsiung. This preference indicates that the specific infrastructure and logistical needs of large-scale AI computing, such as power supply and space, are better met by industrial parks rather than central city sites.

Beyond AI development, the proposal faces significant logistical and defense-related hurdles. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo stated that Songshan airport is an important facility for Taiwan’s defense resilience in peacetime or at war. Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-hsien added that Songshan Airport handles about 50 percent of Taiwan’s domestic air traffic and serves as a vital hub for emergency healthcare access for residents of outlying islands and the east coast.