These things tend to be spying platforms as much as anything else.
no major progress in the construction site except this
I think you gave yourself the best answer, right there.
U.S. Deploying Jets Around Asia to Keep China Surrounded
http://killerapps.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/07/29/us_deploying_jets_around_asia_to_keep_china_surrounded
According to this article, the US Air Force will adopt a kind of mobile strategy. I imagine a scenario. China launches missile and air attack on Okinawa. Pave Paws in Taiwan detects it and send the earliest warning to AIt’s Neihu NOC. Then under the command of US Pacific commanding center, the Neihu NOC directs F-22s, which happens to be stationed in Thailnd that time, to launch couter-attack on Beijin. 
This means the Air Force will sent large numbers of F-22 Raptors, F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, and B-2 stealth bombers to the region, according to Carlisle (who pointed out that the first permanent overseas base for the F-35 will be in the Pacific).
B-2 stealth bombers stationed in the Pacific? This will scare the shit out of communists and their puppy Ma Yin-Dog.
Meanwhile, the Marine Corps is also refurbishing old World War II airfields on Pacific Islands.
Had I not told you many times? WWII is an un-finished business in the Pacific. The US deserves this. US put millions of *corrupt, wicked, lying, murderous, lustful, virus-prone, arrogant * Chinese Nationalists in Formosa between 1947 and 1949. KARMA! ( 
I am shamed by my anger.)
NOC NOC…who’s there?
renderings for the new ait complex. pretty big complex. this american architecture firm has done some nice work in the u.s.
http://www.moorerubleyudell.com/projects/american-institute-taipei#
With the USA offering visa free entry to Taiwanese, the AIT really won’t have a whole lot to do anymore.
They may only need literally half a dozen employees and three of these to water the lawn.
well with the u.s. and entire world focusing more on asia and greater china region, taiwan is also becoming a more important place for business. china’s continued growth as an economic and military superpower means it is continually challenging the u.s. as the dominant power in the pacific. therefore taiwan is also a very important for the u.s. strategically and militarily. so i’m sure the a.i.t. does more than just issue visas.
Don’t bet on it. I only have one minor experience with U.S. embassy in China. After Tiananmen trouble in China we were stuck in a hotel wondering what to do (we were students in China at the time). We called the U.S. embassy to ask their opinion or suggestion about the situation. They said there were not issuing comments about what to do or what the embassy is planning. They had that answer for 4 days and on the fifth day they suggested we leave China. Thank you very much. What was interesting was watching the Canadian embassy van drive by our hotel everyday picking up Canadians to help them get to airport (taxis were hard to find). We could see the Canadian maple leaf on the van’s roof.
If war arrives on this good island, the U.S. government will first check with IRS who has paid their taxes in full. For those lucky enough to have paid taxes upon arrival in U.S. will receive bill for services rendered in helping us escape.
Well, for me, if my Taiwanese wife doesn’t want to try to hole up at AIT, then I will be fighting alongside my Taiwanese brothers to hold off the Chinese hordes.
For anyone still interested in this, I live literally in front of the construction site (5F) with views on the whole thing. As it was being built, it looked a lot more like a military compound than anything else. Loads and loads and loads of concrete. Also, they predicted to finish in 2014, then moved it to late 2015, and recently someone heard the old AIT director mentioning it will be 2016… Considering construction here in Taiwan is not required to stop on weekends to let neighbours rest (good morning 8:00am drilling!), it’s becoming increasingly annoying.
Here’s a view of the progress as of today.
Looks like the entrance is a separate enclosed area where they check people to see if they are carrying any bombs? And if one goes off, it is a separate area entirely.
This place was conceived in a different time, with different needs. Now with Taiwanese being able to enter visa free to the USA for stays up to 90 days, there seems little need for such a massive undertaking for the AIT. Especially since (as i have read) that US citizen services has much been curtailed as well.
Just WHAT are they going to do with all that space? They could sell it all back to the TW govt and just do what Taiwan does in San Francisco. And rent a floor in a small commercial building and set up a few clerks behind bulletproof glass for the rare visitor who needs something done. Well maybe not that extreme, but such a massive building seems like a huge over kill.
Maybe plans call for a tennis court on every floor? Who knows.
I think that’s actually some sort of back door, but I agree that it looks like what they would use to “filter dangerous visitors/packages”. I believe the main gate is on the opposite side of the site, because according to the models, that’s where the entrance hall is.
Anyway, the whole thing is such a horrible waste of a beautiful area… We used to have views of a green hill, then Dahu park behind with the mountains in the background. Now is all the beloved Taiwanese concrete. Hideous. I also have no idea what use they will have for it. To be honest, by the time they’re done, we might be out of Taiwan again anyway. We won’t miss those f*ckers.
As someone already said, the only practical use I see for the building is: if serious conflict starts with China, jump out of the window into that doughnut hole and wait for it to cool down.
I don’t know the answer to that question, but I wonder if this might at least provide a partial answer:
[quote]In addition to the Department [i. e., the Department of State–cj], four agencies are represented at AIT/Taiwan[:] the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, and Homeland Security. AIT also supports FSI’s Chinese Field School, which is located about an hour from AIT/Taiwan. (The school will move into the new office compound when it opens.). [/quote]–Office of Inspector General, Office of Inspections, “Inspection of the American Institute in Taiwan,” February 2012, pages 5-6 oig.state.gov/system/files/187093.pdf
I believe it was one of those horses designed by a committee that ended up being an elephant. But since they built it, they have to think of something to do with it. So perhaps making it some sort of Mandarin learning school for US govt employees would be helpful.
Along with dorms the people could stay in?
Until I read about it in that report this evening, I didn’t even know that the Foreign Service Institute had a Chinese school here.
I just did a little browsing on the Internet and saw evidence that there was such a school here at some time or other in the 1950s and 1960s ( acsusa.org/acs2008-2009/Annu … l_vita.pdf ).
Here’s some information from a person who apparently attended this school in the 1980s:
paulkuehn.hubpages.com/hub/Chine … -in-Taiwan
Here’s some information from the State Department itself:
[quote]America’s increased emphasis on China and the explosion in Chinese visa applications have increased the demand for Chinese-language speakers among Foreign Service officers. Chinese is considered a “super-hard” language, requiring two years of intensive study to acquire professional proficiency. Year one takes places at FSI, followed by a nearly yearlong immersion at overseas field schools or regional programs.
For students headed to posts on the Chinese mainland other than the U.S. Embassy in Beijing or to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), this immersion usually takes place at the Chinese Language and Area Studies School (CLASS) in Taipei, Taiwan.[/quote]–John M. Grondelski, “New China Hands: CLASS program meets language needs,” State Magazine, December 2013, page 12 digitaledition.state.gov/publica … 86123&p=14
By the way, as I predicted and despite yesterday/today being National Day Holiday, the construction workers were at it banging and drilling from 8:00h to 17:00h. I swear, the day I’m out of here you may read some news on Apple Daily regarding the vandalising of a certain building in Neihu…
they opened this month, finally!
any news on local reaction? PRC was pissed, predictably.
Any links? 
Guy