Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday pledged to continue the party’s efforts toward building a nuclear-free nation, a goal that he said is shared by the public.
Noting that work on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) has been suspended, Chu, who doubles as New Taipei City mayor, said the issue of whether construction should resume must be decided by a referendum.
Chu was addressing remarks made by KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who on Sunday said that as 3 million households lost power supplies during Typhoon Soudelor, she would not rule out resuming work on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant if she is elected.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Typhoon Soudelor caused the loss of power to 4.3 million households across the nation — the worst blackout caused by a typhoon in the nation’s history.
In April last year, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration decided to immediately halt construction of the nearly completed power plant amid mounting public sentiment against nuclear power.
The government also decided that the question of whether the plant should be put into operation in the future must be determined by a national referendum, which is unlikely to be held until after the next president is inaugurated in May next year.
Hung yesterday said that the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant would be subject to a legal process.
She said that politicians should tell the people the truth about the energy shortfall facing the nation.
While everyone is willing to support the goal of building a nuclear-free nation, it is very important to determine what methods should be used to achieve that goal, Hung said.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday criticized Hung over her remarks.
“We hope Hung can be more cautious and professional when speaking about energy issues, as it is obvious that the power outage was due to damage to the power supply system caused by the typhoon,” DPP Spokesperson Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said. “It has nothing to do with a power shortage, and we hope Hung understands this.”
Cheng said that the DPP would not change its objective of making Taiwan a nuclear-free nation, and would put more effort into green energy sources and policies aimed at conserving energy.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
REBUFFED: In response to Chinese criticism over recent arms sales, Washington urged Beijing to engage in meaningful dialogue instead of threats and intimidation Washington’s long-term commitment to Taiwan would not change, the US Department of State said yesterday, urging Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan and engage in meaningful bilateral dialogues. The remarks came in response to a backlash from Beijing about Washington’s latest approval of arms sales to Taiwan. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement on Wednesday that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US has asked to purchase an arms package, including Tactical Mission Network Software; AH-1W helicopter spare and repair parts; M109A7 self-propelled howitzers; HIMARS long range precision strike systems; tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles; Javelin
RSS