People across the nation yesterday held demonstrations to raise awareness of the negative impact air pollution has on public health.
Parents and children dressed up as superheroes took to the streets in Yunlin County, where the nation’s sixth naphtha cracker, managed by the Formosa Plastics Group, is located, as a symbol of “fighting off” air pollution.
College students — wearing masks of “No-Face,” a character from Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away — said Yunlin has borne the brunt of deteriorating air quality in Taiwan in recent years, but the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has downplayed the severity of the problem and adopted a passive attitude in addressing air pollution.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The students said the EPA has ignored the public as if it were faceless and mute, with their costumes signifying a “silent protest” against the agency’s indifference.
The demonstrators called for the establishment of more air quality survey stations nationwide and urged authorities to push for agreements with corporations to partially suspend operations on days when air quality is poor.
Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Ching-yung (李進勇) and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) participated in the demonstration.
Photo: CNA
Lee said the county government is against pursuing economic development at the cost of public health.
He said that the central government should not use economic growth as a pretext to protect large corporations and called on industrial firms to fulfill their corporate social responsibility by using clean fuels.
Despite being planned as a peaceful event, tensions rose when several demonstrators tried to break into the naphtha cracker complex, with scuffles breaking out between the protesters and police.
In Kaohsiung, protesters rallied against perceived air pollution from the South Star ferry special zone project proposed by the Kaohsiung City Government.
Demonstrators said the project to establish a ferry manufacturing zone in the Dalinpu Community (大林埔) would leave the community cornered by the zone, existing smelters, power plants and petrochemical plants, making it difficult for factory emissions to dissipate.
They said the municipal government should install air purifiers in their homes if it presses on with the pollution-intensive project.
In Taipei, members of the Trees Party and children acted out a skit on Ketagalan Boulevard, in which they donned gas masks while exercising next to an “air quality flag” indicating dangerous levels of air pollution.
Trees Party Cochair Lin Chia-yu (林佳諭) said that, as people breathe more heavily while exercising, inhaling large amounts of airborne pollutants in dirty air could have a negative effect on children.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS