Asia Cement Corp (亞泥) yesterday denied that it has been expanding mining operations in Hualien County.
“We have been conducting a large-scale afforestation project in the region for several years and the efforts have begun to bear fruit,” the company, one of the biggest cement makers in the nation, said in a statement.
The comments came after the death on Saturday of documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林) in a helicopter crash, which raised public questions about the scope of the firm’s mining operations in Hualien because of his footage.
Asia Cement has been mining in eastern Taiwan for 60 years. Its mine once extended 25 hectares into Taroko National Park, but it said it reduced its mining area in the park at the end of last year.
Asia Cement is a unit of Far Eastern Group (遠東集團), which also operates Far Eastern Department Stores Co (遠東百貨) and textile maker Far Eastern New Century Corp (遠東新世紀).
The Ministry of Economic Affairs in March approved an extension of Asia Cement’s mining rights in Sincheng Township (新城) by 20 years, allowing it to bypass an environmental impact assessment.
“The ministry has completed the draft amendment to the Mining Act (礦業法) and would require outdated projects to pass environmental impact assessments in the future,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said yesterday.
The ministry is to discuss related details with the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Shen said, without providing a timetable.
The Department of Mines said in a statement that the nation’s cement supply chains might be affected if Asia Cement halts production at its Hualien plant.
The Hualien plant contributes nearly 29 percent of Taiwan’s total cement production, it said.
In late March, Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan, initiated a petition to abolish the extension of mining rights, which collected about 42,000 signatures until the first week of this month.
After Chi’s lastest aerial photograph of the company’s activity was revealed on Saturday, about 40,000 signatures were added to the petition over the weekend, bringing the total number of signatures to 87,867 as of 8:30pm last night, foundation researcher Pan Cheng-cheng (潘正正) said.
Once the petition has 100,000 signatures, the foundation will deliver it to authorities and press them to re-examine the company’s mining permit, Pan said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said on Facebook yesterday that the EPA should ask the company to conduct a new environmental impact analysis and submit response strategies, based on Article 28 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法).
Pan said a new analysis might change the firm’s mining scope, but added that “it would be a difficult decision for the EPA.”
The EPA had not responded to Lin’s call as of press time last night.
Additional reporting by Ines Lin
A Taiwanese YouTuber suspected of creating and selling deepfake porn videos featuring more than 100 politicians and influencers was on Monday released on bail after being arrested the previous day. Chu Yu-chen (朱玉宸), 26, who uses the name Xiaoyu (小玉) on YouTube, was arrested on Sunday in New Taipei City, along with two suspected accomplices, a 24-year-old YouTuber surnamed Yeh (耶), known as Shaiw Shaiw (笑笑), and a 22-year-old man Chuang (莊). The three suspects were on Monday escorted to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for further questioning on suspicion of distributing obscene videos and publicly insulting others, in contravention of
ANTI-COERCION: EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said the EU wishes to bolster relations with Taiwan within the framework of its ‘one China’ policy The EU is to further its engagement with Taiwan to defend democracy, freedom and an open market, while bolstering cooperation in semiconductor supply chains, EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said on Tuesday. In her remarks at a European Parliament plenary session focused on Taiwan-EU relations, Vestager referred to China’s increasing military presence in the Taiwan Strait, including flying missions off the southwest coast of Taiwan. “This display of force may have a direct impact on European security and prosperity,” she said, adding that the EU encourages all parties to avoid any unilateral actions that might increase tensions across the Strait. “We Europeans
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday debuted three electric vehicle (EV) prototypes to great fanfare at its Tech Day event at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. The prototypes of sports utility vehicle Model C, luxury sedan Model E and electric bus Model T were developed by Foxtron Vehicles Technologies Co (鴻華先進), a joint venture between Hon Hai and Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車). The Model C and Model E are to be initially sold under the Yulon-affiliated Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車) and China Motor Corp (中華汽車) brands when they hit the market, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said. The company expects
MILITARY RESOLVE: Washington does not want a cold war with Beijing, it just wants ‘China to understand that we’re not going to step back,’ Biden told a CNN town hall The US would come to Taiwan’s defense and has a commitment to defend the nation China claims as its own, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, although the White House later said there was no change in policy toward Taiwan. “Yes, we have a commitment to do that,” Biden said at a CNN town hall meeting when asked if the US would come to the defense of Taiwan, which has been facing mounting military and political pressure from Beijing to accept Chinese sovereignty. While Washington is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, it has long
RSS