Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday turned down a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) proposal for a special statute that would pave the way for a national referendum on the completion of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant after discussing the matter with DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
It is not possible for the Cabinet to issue an executive order halting the construction of the plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), Jiang told a joint press conference he held with Su following their 90-minute meeting at the Executive Yuan complex in Taipei.
Jiang said the executive branch could not take a unilateral decision to resolve the decades-long controversy, given that an executive order to halt the project issued by the then-DPP administration in 2000 had been ruled unconstitutional.
Photo: CNA
“Besides, this administration has always supported completing construction of the plant so it can become operational,” he said.
The DPP’s proposal called for changing the national referendum threshold to a simple majority from the current regulations, which require the participation of 50 percent of eligible voters, half of whom must cast a “yes” ballot for the referendum to pass.
Jiang said that while he has always supported resolving the controversy via popular vote, “lowering the national referendum threshold over a highly contentious issue would be inappropriate.”
The proposed special statute also sought to phrase the nuclear referendum question in clear terms by simply asking voters whether they support or oppose the plant’s construction and for the plebiscite to be held by the end of the year.
The initiative was unveiled last week as part of the DPP’s effort to support the demand made by former party chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) to halt the Gongliao project.
A prolific anti-nuclear advocate, Lin is to begin an indefinite hunger strike today in a bid to force the government to heed his call.
Jiang yesterday reiterated his position on Lin’s planned fast, saying that the news of the hunger strike had shocked and saddened him.
“I urge Mr Lin to not sacrifice his body for a political demand,” the premier said, adding that he did not rule out visiting the former DPP head to discuss the situation.
At the press conference, Su said he initiated the meeting to engage Jiang in “problem-solving,” which the DPP chair said entailed the government resolving the controversy as soon as possible and taking Lin’s hunger strike seriously.
“I’m not here to debate who did what in the past, nor am I here to argue with someone about the responsibilities of the administrative and legislative branches, because this have always been clear,” Su said.
“I am here today to work out a solution for the 30-year-old controversy over the Gongliao plant. Considering the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi meltdown in Japan, the anti-nuclear stance held by the majority of Taiwanese and Lin Yi-xiong’s sacrificing his body as a last warning, I think the answer to this problem should be very clear,” he added.
If President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration adopts a positive mentality toward resolving the issue, Su said he would not rule out meeting with the president and added that his party is open to negotiating with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) about the details or revisions of the proposed statute.
“There is no time to waste. The DPP is willing to do whatever it takes to resolve the issue. Hopefully, the nuclear power plant will become the first issue on which the two parties can achieve conciliation and cooperation,” he said.
Separately yesterday, Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said Jiang’s pledge that the government would not place fuel rods in the Gongliao station’s reactors before a referendum is held does not mean that the plant’s going online will be postponed indefinitely if a vote does not transpire.
If the legislature does not decide to put the issue to a popular vote, the plant could become operational, but only once the safety of the nuclear reactors is guaranteed, Sun said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS