The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has demanded an immediate explanation from Robin Winkler, a member serving on the EPA's Environmental Impact Assessment Committee, who it said made slanderous remarks against the administration.
The administration asked Winkler to elaborate on his comments quoted in Tuesday's edition of the Chinese-language United Evening News, in which he said the administration had done their best to cooperate with the Executive Yuan and viewed corporations as its partners.
He was quoted as saying that the administration viewed committee members as enemies.
The administration said that Winkler's comment was untrue and damaged its reputation. It vowed to seek legal action if Winkler did not clarify his statement.
In response, Winkler said yesterday he welcomed the chance to meet EPA Minister Chang Kow-lung (
He said he believed, however, that the conflict had been caused by the media, who were exploiting the situation.
He said the EPA's legal committee had repeatedly adopted interpretations disadvantageous to the environment.
"Just as the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Ministry of Transportation and Communications are not neutral in what they stand for, the EPA should not be neutral in executing the Basic Environmental Law (
He said the EPA often wanted cases pushed through quickly so that its performance would be evaluated favorably by the Executive Yuan.
Tsai Lin-yi (蔡玲儀), a section chief at the EPA's planning division, said the EPA must follow government regulations.
"He wants to be a hero and I am fine with it," she said. "But he really should not attack the administration."
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS