New Taipei City’s 4 million residents need a stable power supply to live well, former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday, but added that he would not support any power plant that is unsafe or pollutive.
Su on Thursday announced his bid to run for New Taipei City mayor in the Nov. 24 local elections as the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate.
He made the remarks during a visit to the city’s Bali District (八里) after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) New Taipei City mayoral candidate Hou Yu-yi (侯友宜) asked him to clarify his stance on the opening of the new Shenao Power Plant in the city’s Rueifang District (瑞芳).
Photo: CNA
Su also said safety should be the primary concern when discussing whether the No. 2 reactor at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in the city’s Wanli District (萬里) should be restarted and when discussing the plant’s decommissioning.
The reactor on March 28 triggered an emergency shutdown due to a problem with its steam valve, one day after it was restarted following the conclusion of an overhaul that had begun in May 2016.
When asked if he had expressed his view to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Su did not give a direct response, only saying that he would strive for the well-being of city residents and communicate with the central government over all kinds of issues, including those related to power plants.
Some DPP and KMT lawmakers requested that the central government conduct a new environmental impact assessment for the Shenao plant, but the request was on Friday rejected by Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇).
Some Rueifang residents have also called for replacing the plant’s coal-fired generators with gas-fired ones.
However, Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) of the DPP yesterday said that gas pipelines would have to pass under the city center and provoke more opposition.
The plant’s fate can be decided by New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who could end the controversy if the city government rejected the plant’s opening, Lin said.
The Shenao plant should not have become a tool for political struggle, Lin said, calling on Taiwan Power Co (台電) to communicate with the public by providing scientific data so that members of the public can address the issue in a rational manner.
Meanwhile, Minister Without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森) on Friday during a radio interview said that the plant must be built to meet northern Taiwan’s electricity demand, adding that the plant would not be needed if the five cities and counties in northern Taiwan could reduce energy usage by 10 percent.
Asked for comment, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said the goal would be difficult to achieve.
“Honestly speaking, I think it would be difficult for Taipei to cut electricity usage by even 1 percent, because the industrial and business sectors are developing,” he said. “It is already challenging not to increase electricity usage at all, so it is very difficult to reduce usage by 10 percent.”
Professional assessment is needed to tackle the controversy over whether the plant should be opened, Ko said.
“Many people are doubtful about what the [central] government says, so it should release statistical data to the public... It is obligated to bring out all the information and try to persuade the public,” he said.
Additional reporting by Lee I-chia
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS