The controversy over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (
Expressing his concern, Chin Heng-wei (
"What is worse is that we've seen resentment surfacing among DPP party members and supporters, which will make it difficult for the party to unite and fight against a common enemy in the [December] legislative elections," Chin said.
"The Cabinet's biggest mistake was to make the decision unilaterally and too hastily, and that the decision itself was unconstitutional in nature," said James Gin (
Gin argued that the Cabinet should have instead directed its efforts toward educating the public and generating a public debate on the plant itself in order to forge a domestic consensus. The Cabinet could have also proposed a resolution to challenge the legislature before it made the final announcement to scrap the plant, he said.
DPP secretary-general Wu Nai-jen (
Chin added that former president Lee Teng-hui (
"What is going to happen next is that the legislature will push harder, arguing that all legislative resolutions should be binding and bypass the Cabinet," Chin said, adding that the checks and balances which regulate the executive and legislative branches have been sabotaged.
Gin said he expects the controversy over the plant will end peacefully once the Cabinet announces a resumption of the its construction.
Gin added that the Cabinet's "radical approaches and inconsistency" had caused the stock market to fluctuate wildly, the nation's economic outlook to decline and political turmoil to go on for months.
Other political commentators, however, said that the DPP government has still made headway in turning Taiwan into a nuclear-free country though it has lost the battle over the plant's fate.
They said they also believe the DPP will fight back during year-end elections by making an appeal to the electorate about the disadvantages of occupying only a minority of seats in the legislature.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)