Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday that a nuclear-free Taiwan remained the party's goal. But given that the DPP was a democratic party, the chairman said, he would not prohibit party members from discussing this issue.
In the DPP's central standing committee meeting on Wednesday, Vice President Annette Lu (
According to Article 64 of the DPP's guidelines, the party "opposes the establishment of additional nuclear power plants, aims to encourage the use of alternative energy sources and to close existing nuclear power plants within a finite period."
Lu's remarks sparked lively debate.
When asked whether Lu's remarks violated the party's guideline, Yu answered: "Yes."
Yu said that the nuclear power issue was not listed as a proposal in the central standing committee.
"The vice president is just expressing her personal opinion. The DPP is a party that does not oppose different voices," Yu said.
DPP legislative caucus whip Chen Chun-jun (
However, since construction had resumed on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, the DPP would not propose the work should be halted again, he said.
"But we will continue to monitor the budgets for the fourth nuclear plant. Security remains the priority," he said.
DPP Legislator Chao Yung-ching (
"I think it is incredible that the budget for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant has been increased. There must be activity behind the scenes. Resuming construction harms the credibility of the party and shows a lack of accountability," Chao said.
The pan-blue camp yesterday praised Lu's remarks, saying it was time for the DPP to re-examine its nuclear power policy.
KMT legislative caucus whip Pan Wei-kang (
"We are glad to see that the vice president has caught up with world trends," Pan said.
She added that it was the DPP's fault that NT$3.5 billion had been wasted when compensation was paid for halting the construction of the plant, and that another NT$78 billion was subsequently required to resume construction.
Meanwhile, Yu Shyi-kun yesterday said that the first family should apologize over first lady Wu Shu-jen's (
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked