President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday pledged to place a priority on the environment after the Environmental Protection Administration’s task force on Monday conditionally approved an improvement project for the Suhua Highway after what has been called the fastest assessment process in the nation’s history.
The decision came as about 2,000 Hualien County residents protested in front of the Executive Yuan on Monday, demanding speedy improvements to the highway, which was damaged by landslides caused by Typhoon Megi last month.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) told residents of Hualien and Taitung counties on Sunday that the government would definitely deliver on its promise to construct an alternative route to the dangerous Suhua Highway as soon as the plan passed an environmental impact review.
Ma yesterday said he has promised twice to Hualien County residents — November last year and February this year — that the project to construct an alternative route should begin at the end of this year provided it passed the environment impact assessment.
“The promise still stands and my position on the matter remains unchanged,” he said.
Taiwan cannot afford to neglect economic development, but it must learn how to strike a balance between environmental protection and economic development, Ma said.
“The Basic Environmental Act (環境基本法) states that environmental protection should be the priority if any economic or technological developments cause damage to the environment,” Ma said while meeting groups and individuals recognized for their outstanding contribution to environmental protection at the Presidential Office.
“Whether the developments will cause any damage to the environment will be decided by the experts conducting the environmental impact review,” Ma added.
Ma said he understood that the task force had conditionally approved the improvement project for the Suhua Highway, but he hoped the impact that the project would have on the environment would be heeded considering the area’s fragile geological structure.
Ma added that while the former Democratic Progressive Party administration put off the controversial issue and failed to approve the environment impact assessment, his administration had adopted a different approach.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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