Environmentalists said yesterday that the Cabinet reshuffle was a further blow to the anti-nuclear movement, saying that the newly appointed heads of both the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) and the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) were not the right people for the jobs.
Activists said that they were opposed to incoming AEC chairman Hu Chin-piao (
"He totally ignored Taipower's (
The Control Yuan censured the Executive Yuan, the AEC, the EPA and Taipower in April 1999 because of the AEC's failure to follow the correct procedures when it issued the license.
In September 1995, the Control Yuan censured seven Cabinet agencies involved with the change in power output of the reactors. But the censure was totally ignored by the Cabinet.
In May 1999, the same seven agencies, including the EPA and the AEC, were again censured by the Control Yuan for failing to address the 1995 censures.
Yesterday, AEC officials said that they welcomed Hu's return, saying that Hu was very familiar with atomic energy-related administrative matters.
Meanwhile, Chou Po-lun (
Activists said Hau was unqualified for the job, having been trained in food science and technology, in which he holds a doctoral degree, rather than environmental science.
Hau currently teaches at the Graduate Institute of Food Science and Technology at National Taiwan University as well as being a legislator and a key New party functionary.
On Sunday, Hau stated that he supported the Cabinet's decision to resume construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Pan said that outgoing EPA head Lin Jun-yi (
Lin has been an energetic pioneer in the anti-nuclear movement in Taiwan since the 1980s.
In his well-known book, Opposing Nuclear Energy to Oppose Dictatorship (
During Lin's nine-month leadership of the EPA, he promoted alternative sources of energy, such as solar energy and wind energy.
Accompanied by US oil cleanup experts from Alaska, Lin yesterday inspected the half-sunk Greek cargo ship MV Amorgos, which caused an oil spill in Kenting National Park in southern Taiwan in mid-January.
It was the handling of the oil spill which eventually triggered the Cabinet's reshuffle, leading to Lin's ouster.
"I'll keep going with the oil cleanup work until I step down," Lin said yesterday.
Both the AEC and EPA posts will change hands tomorrow.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
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