Anti-nuclear residents of Kungliao (
"If the DPP-led central government cannot bring Kungliao residents hope, we have no choice but to fight against the ambitions of political figures by taking violent means, just as we did before," Wu Wen-tung (
Wu said that Kungliao residents, many of them from hardy fishing families, would fight to the death over the matter.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Some Kungliao residents have been involved in the anti-nuclear movement for more than a decade. Violent means were used by the movement during the administrations of former KMT governments, sometimes with tragic consequences.
One example took place on Oct. 3, 1991, about a week after the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) conditionally passed the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. The passage of the EIA had sparked fierce objections from both EIA committee members and anti-nuclear activists.
To express their anger, Kungliao anti-nuclear activists established a mock funeral canopy in front of the main entrance to the controversial plant's construction site.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Police then started to dismantle the funeral canopy without informing anti-nuclear activists in advance. In the clash which followed between the police and anti-nuclear activists -- later called the 1003 Incident -- a policeman was killed.
Seventeen Kungliao residents were prosecuted. Among them, Lin Shun-yuan (
On Oct. 25, 1991, saddened Kungliao residents held a series of activities to review their anti-nuclear strategies, asserting that they wanted neither the plant nor a repeat of tragedies like the 1003 Incident.
Last June, a month after Chen Shui-bian (
Irritated by the legislature's decision yesterday to request the Executive Yuan to resume construction of the plant, dozens of Kungliao residents who protested in front of the Legislative Yuan said that they would not give up their goal of building a nuclear-free country.
Chen Ching-tang (陳慶塘), head of the Yenliao Anti-nuclear Self-help Association (鹽寮反核自救會), said that the anti-nuclear movement in Kungliao would not be beaten by the Legislative Yuan's decision.
Other anti-nuclear activists joining the demonstration were also disappointed at the outcome. Some waved placards with slogans reading, "resuming construction is illegal," (
Kao Cheng-yen (
Environmentalists from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) said that it was not worth adding more than NT$120 billion to the cost of the project in order to complete construction.
In the introduction to their resolution yesterday, legislators stated that their long-term goal was to build a nuclear-free country. However, TEPU chairman Shih Shin-min (
"The legislature has said it wants a nuclear-free country, but the decision was to resume construction of the plant," Shih said.
Activist Chang Huei-ling (張慧玲) said that incumbent legislators, elected in 1998 during the last years of a half-century of KMT rule, could not represent current public opinion in the new political era.
While some activists vowed to fight back, others were deeply saddened by the legislature's decision.
Tien Meng-shu (
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique