Vietnam yesterday said a US$10.6 billion steel plant run by a unit of Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC, 台塑) caused an until-now mysterious environmental crisis by releasing toxic wastewater into the sea.
Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp (台塑河靜鋼鐵興業), which has built a new plant set to become the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia, on Tuesday admitted responsibility for a disaster that caused massive fish deaths in coastal provinces in April, head of the government office Mai Tien Dung said.
The spill sparked public outrage across Vietnam and three successive weekends of protests, with demonstrators venting their fury at both Formosa and the government, accusing them of a cover-up.
Photo: AFP
Formosa had apologized and would provide US$500 million in compensation for those affected by the disaster, Dung said.
“Violations in the construction and testing operations of the plant are the causes for serious environmental pollution, killing a massive amount of fish,” Dung told a packed news conference. “Formosa has admitted responsibility for the fish deaths in four central provinces and committed to publicly apologize for causing severe environmental incidents.”
Formosa yesterday said the company respects the Vietnamese government’s probe and blamed the misconduct on oversight by its construction contractors in Vietnam.
The company expressed regret over the incident in a statement, saying it would work with the Vietnamese authorities to compensate the damage done to Vietnamese and solve the pollution issue.
The Ministry of Economis Affairs’ Department of Investment Services said it respects the agreement reached between Formosa Ha Tinh Steel and the Vietnamese government.
“We have contacted the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs right after the release of the government’s investigative report this afternoon,” department Director-General Vivien Lien (連玉蘋) said by telephone, expressing the hope that the event would not affect the relations between Taiwan and Vietnam.
Lien said the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security has promised the Taiwanese representatives in Vietnam that it will ensure the safety of Taiwanese in the nation following the incident.
Formosa’s steel plant is among the largest investments by a foreign company in Vietnam.
In April, the media reported that chemicals from a drainage pipe had killed fish, but a preliminary investigation by Formosa and a separate investigation by the Vietnamese government found there was no direct link between the steel plant and the deaths.
The initial government probe concluded the cause was either toxic discharge caused by humans or “red tide,” when algae bloom and produce toxins.
The incident sparked a crisis for the administration of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who took office days after dead fish started washing up along a 200km coastline on April 6.
Additional reporting by Ted Chen and Lauly Li
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
RSS