Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential hopefuls yesterday pledged to halt the expansion of Taiwan’s petrochemical industry, which employs tens of thousands, but has drawn environmental concerns.
Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who stepped down as chairperson of the DPP to run for president, and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) both played up their green credentials by agreeing to sign a statement to oppose a proposed NT$600 billion (US$20.5 billion) petrochemical facility in Changhua County.
The three-point statement included a vow to stand against the proposed expansion of Formosa Group’s sixth naphtha plant in Yunlin County that saw two serious industrial accidents within 18 days last year and push for stricter air pollution standards.
Tsai said the proposed eighth plant and the expansion of the sixth were unnecessary, either for the economy or local residents. Most of their end products, heavy chemicals, would be exported.
“Taiwan’s economy is at a critical juncture,” Tsai said. “In the past, we have asked for economic development at the expense of environmental protection and we have paid the price over the years for this policy, but now what we want is a clean and safe Taiwan. The time for heavily polluting -industrial factories has past.”
Tsai and Su’s agreement to sign the statement marked a major break with past DPP policy, which under president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) hesitantly approved petrochemical expansion, including the sixth plant in Yunlin County.
Since Chen stepped down in 2008, the DPP has been seeking to distance itself from both the petrochemical industry and the nuclear industry, which the former president opposed, but was unable to stop.
“It’s not just my choice,” Tsai said on the decision to sign the statement. “We had already started to ask ourselves whether we needed the petrochemical industry during the past DPP -administration. We decided that we [didn’t].”
At a separate setting, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said it was hard to decide whether the petrochemical industry should continue to exist in Taiwan because it benefits Taiwan in many ways.
However, he said that when the environment and employment clash, the government must take all things into consideration, and provide the public with sufficient information so people can debate and discuss the controversial issue.
Lee said there were many oil refineries in Taiwan and many should be closed down because they created a lot of pollution.
Like the electronics industry, Lee said the petrochemical industry created many jobs and helped boost the economy. Many people would lose their jobs if an oil refinery closed down, he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it