Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday the DPP's position on building a "nuclear-free homeland" remained unchanged.
However, he emphasized that the administration was bound by a legislative resolution to continue building the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Hsieh was responding to former Academia Sinica president and Nobel laureate Lee Yuan-tseh's (李遠哲) support for the construction of the nuclear power plant. Lee issued a statement on Monday urging the presidential candidates to support the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. The statement was issued by Academia Sinica on behalf of its environment and energy team. Lee is the convener of the group.
The statement said the nation could not obtain sufficient alternative sources of energy and was bound to increase the consumption of coal-fired power if construction of the plant were halted.
While coal took up 32 percent of the nation's total energy in 2000, the statement said that figure is expected to jump to 44 percent in 2025. Carbon dioxide emissions would then increase by 60 percent in 2025 from the 2000 levels, the statement said.
Hsieh said that if elected, his administration would initiate no new nuclear power plant projects and replace the old units with newer, more efficient and lower risk ones.
Lee said yesterday that he had talked to former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), who has vigorously lobbied for a referendum to decide the fate of the new nuclear power plant.
"He did not completely oppose the idea of postponing the nuclear-free homeland policy for 50 years," Lee said.
Nuclear power is a better and more feasible source of energy given the nation's limited energy resources, Lee said in a speech at Academia Sinica yesterday morning. It was necessary to continue the operation of the First and Second nuclear power plants because effective ways of handling nuclear waste were now available, he said.
Lee dismissed speculation that his actions were politically motivated, saying he was just doing what he thought was right. Lee's last-minute endorsement of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in the 2000 presidential election campaign was seen by some as a key factor in Chen's victory.
Meanwhile, Hsieh yesterday attributed the recent announcement of a relaxation of cross-strait economic policy to successful internal party negotiations.
Among the measures proposed was one to attract Taiwanese businesspeople based in China to return home by offering them technological assistance, capital and labor.
Hsieh, who advocates a more liberal cross-strait economic policy, said he would push for the development of a low-risk, low-polluting manufacturing industry that would increase job opportunities.
While it was government policy to encourage Chinese investment, Hsieh said his understanding was that Chinese investors would still be barred from buying property.
Hsieh said he had always opposed Chinese investment in the real estate market because property would become less affordable for younger people if prices rose because of Chinese investors.
While the real estate sector might welcome Chinese investment for the sake of short-term profits, Hsieh said he had always opposed it because it was bound to do more harm than good to the economy.
"I don't think the Executive Yuan or the Mainland Affairs Council [MAC] would allow this to happen because we have talked about it," he said.
Hsieh was responding to questions about a report published in yesterday's Chinese-language China Times, which said that the MAC was expected to allow Chinese nationals to invest in the local real estate market and to ease the limits on the percentage of funds they could borrow against such property.
The report said the MAC was also planning to allow Chinese nationals to borrow money from financial institutions without providing any source of collateral and to extend the period Chinese nationals could stay in Taiwan from 10 days to 90 days.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he