About 10,000 protesters nationwide are expected to take to the streets today — the first anniversary of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami disaster — to demand that the government scrap plans for ongoing nuclear plant construction.
Organizers said yesterday that the “Bidding Farewell to Nuclear Power Parade” is being held to commemorate the tragedy of the magnitude 9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that caused the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to fail, plunging Japan into the worst nuclear crisis in its history.
Amid global concerns over nuclear safety, the parade will also build on local momentum created at April’s successful “Sunflower No Nuke Action,” in which more than 16,000 people across Taiwan participated.
“We want the world to never forget the hard lessons it has learned,” said Tsui Su-hsin (崔傃欣), a spokeswoman for the organizers.
According to Tsui, the protests are scheduled to take place in Taipei, Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung, where about 100 civic groups will urge the government to decommission the existing three nuclear power plants as soon as possible and stop construction of the fourth nuclear plant in Wanli (萬里), New Taipei City (新北市).
Protesters will also call on the government to implement energy-saving policies and remove the radioactive nuclear waste stored on Lanyu (蘭嶼, also known as Orchid Island) off the coast of southeastern Taiwan, she said.
The planned simultaneous protests suggest that the state-run Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) safety checks do not seem good enough to quell the unease among members of the public.
The company said on Friday it had finished a comprehensive safety assessment of the country’s four nuclear power plants, with some machines and areas which were not due to be checked having been examined as well.
“With the approach of the first anniversary of the Japanese nuclear crisis, we’d like to assure the public that our plants are safe,” said Tsai Fuh-feng, director of Taipower’s Department of Nuclear Generation.
Besides regular checks, the three operating nuclear power plants and the one under construction all passed stress tests, which are required in European countries, he said.
Although there are still some parts of the plants that need reinforcement, Tsai said all the plants are “safe enough to counter a devastating disaster similar to the one that happened in Japan.”
After the March 11 incident in Japan last year, Taipower reviewed its safety procedures and came up with an “ultimate response guideline” specially tailored for Taiwan, to cope with similar compound disasters, Tsai said.
Following the guideline, the company can respond immediately and take critical action within an hour after a disaster, he added.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS