On Thursday President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen may have intended to demonstrate his commitment to make economic development a top priority and reverse the impression that his administration is anti-business because of its environmental protection stance. After all, the administration's handling of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant fiasco did enrage many moderate voters and aggravated the outflow of business enterprises.
Chen's heart may be in the right place, but unfortunately, the manner in which he chose to get his message across was entirely inappropriate. As a licensed attorney, Chen needs no reminder there is something called due process under which wrongs must be corrected through established legal mechanisms, rather than through informal short-cuts.
Not every firm's chairman is privileged enough, as is the case of Quanta chairman Barry Lam (
It would have been proper -- and fairer -- had Chen simply instructed the relevant government units to improve administrative efficiency and establish standardized procedures for EIAs without referring to a specific cases. Now that Chen has specifically named Quanta as a victim of inefficiency and hyper-critical demands, how can there be any resolution except speedy approval by the EIA committee? What if justifications exist for the delay in the EIA on Quanta's plants? Quanta would be let through wrongfully and Chen would be guilty of meddling.
Chen's little show Thursday has been widely interpreted as a sign that the administration is willing to sacrifice the environment for the economy. While the DPP legislative caucus Secretary-General Tsai Huang-lang (
On the other hand, it is not news that the EIA system has problems. Even the head of the Environmental Protection Administration, Hau Lung-ping (
It is also true that, in the case of Quanta Display, the waste water biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) level required by the local EIA committee, 20 mg/l, appears stringent in comparison with the 30 mg/l level mandated by the government and the regulations applied in other countries such as the US (60 mg/l) and Japan (30 to 65 mg/l). The argument that the high pollution level in the lake near the plant demanded a more stringent level may have its merits. However, it seems reasonable to suggest that if the local pollution level is indeed so high, all nearby plants should be made to comply with this stringent standard, not just new plants.
If the EIA system has flaws, then these flaws need to be carefully thought through and rectified. And that is a process to which Chen's histrionics contribute nothing at all.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under