Environmental Protection Administration chief Lin Yun-yi (
"In the past, my opposition to nuclear energy was a way of opposing totalitarianism. Since totalitarian rule has disappeared, I can take the stance of not being opposed [to nuclear energy]," Lin said during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Sanitation, Environment and Social Welfare Committee yesterday.
Lin was responding to Chiang Yi-wen (
Chiang asked Lin if he would resign because of his environmental ideals if the Ministry of Economic Affairs decided to continue the construction of the plant.
Lin said he would not, because the procedure of policy-making in democratic politics is not the product of any individual insisting on his own opinions.
Lin's statement disappointed anti-nuclear legislators.
"You might still remember that you were called the `Father of anti-nuclear activists' (
Jao disagreed with Lin, arguing that the situation had not changed.
"The dictatorship still exists because the public is still kept in the dark about things; there are still administrative power struggles and departmental egoism, in addition to an overwhelming scientific hegemony," Jao said.
Anti-nuclear activists echoed Jao's remarks.
"How could he say that dictatorship has disappeared? I haven't seen any new public policy-making procedures taken up by the new Ministry of Economic Affairs for reviewing the controversial plant project," said Lai Wei-chieh (
Lai said the Alliance would visit the economic affairs ministry next week with local residents from Kungliao (
Lin made his comments yesterday just as his former anti-nuclear comrades from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union were presenting a petition to the Control Yuan for a comprehensive investigation of the divisive nuclear power issue.
Members from the environmental union -- one of the oldest anti-nuclear groups in Taiwan -- pressed for a continuing investigation of two censures that were given for not completing environmental impact assessments on the plant.
"Making a statement like this really hurts our feelings," said Shih Shin-min (
"I agree with what Legislator Jao said because we still see a monopoly of energy in Taiwan," Shih said.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the