Premier Chang Chun-hsiung's (張俊雄) decision to halt construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is the first step toward a nuclear-free country, nuclear opponents said yesterday.
The government must also do more to reform the nation's energy policies and adopt renewable energy sources, the activists said.
"The DPP-led government has kept pace with international trends" when it comes to energy policy, Pan Han-chiang (
Chang's announcement was also applauded by anti-nuclear residents in Kungliao township (
As parents of young children, residents said at a press conference yesterday that they have a responsibility to fight for a better environment for future generations.
"The decision will prevent the environment along the northeastern coast from being destroyed by the plant's construction," said Chen Ching-tang (
Anti-nuclear activists said that concerns surrounding nuclear energy have been fully debated by the public, and that discourse could be used to answer other public policy questions.
"The way of arriving at a final decision to abandon the project for the plant could also be applied to other important public development projects in the future," said Wu Wen-tung (吳文通), a Kungliao resident.
Meanwhile, Kungliao builders who do contract work for Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said the premier's decision was a sudden one.
Wang Wen-bin (
"I believe that some Kungliao residents will start to worry about their future, because the decision" will hurt Kungliao economically, Wang said.
As a result of the decision, he said, many residents will be forced to look for jobs elsewhere.
Lin Chu-wan (林居萬), Taipower's site manager for the Lungmen Construction Office (龍門施工處) in Kungliao, said that some major construction projects have already been halted as a result of the government's announcement yesterday.
But Lin said that Taipower employees working at the site were still waiting for further instruction from their supervisors.
Hsia Der-yu (夏德鈺), chairman of the Atomic Energy Council, said yesterday he respected the premier's decision and that the council would now focus on operating the nation's three nuclear plants.
"I don't feel that Premier Chang disrespects the nuclear energy profession, and I believe that the decision was based on a comprehensive consideration," Hsia said.
Meanwhile, the first wave of the DPP's anti-nuclear campaign appeared yesterday in the form of advertisements in the evening newspapers.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS