Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential hopeful Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday defended her plans to move the nation’s petrochemicals industry to the Middle East, calling the effort environmentally friendly, viable and urgently needed.
On a visit to the Yilan Green Expo, the contender for the DPP’s presidential nomination said the sensitive wetlands in Changhua County were an “unsuitable” location to build a US$600 billion (US$20.5 billion) petrochemical complex.
Tsai said a better idea would be to build the facilities in oil producing regions, referring to comments she made last week proposing that future petrochemicals plants be built either in Saudi Arabia or other oil-producing Middle Eastern states.
“It’s a plan that has been thoroughly considered and is feasible,” she said. “Not only would it help resolve some of Taiwan’s environmental problems, but it would also help ensure our supply of oil. That is the expert opinion.”
Her comments came amid controversy over whether construction should start at the proposed eighth naphtha plant, which has drawn opposition from activists and local residents, citing health and environmental concerns.
In a rare point of disagreement, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), seen as a staunch supporter of Tsai, said on Sunday that Tsai “did not understand the petrochemicals industry” and said that halting construction could potentially cost tens of thousands of jobs.
Saying the former president needed to brush up on his knowledge of the sector, Tsai said petrochemicals technology was transferable, “unlike some other non-transferable [industries].”
She did not respond to the employment concerns raised by Lee.
“Lee could be lacking new information,” Tsai said. “It’s extremely viable to have our investors take their technology and build a petrochemicals plant in oil-producing regions ... South Korea also does this. We have to do what is best for Taiwan ... it’s not an empty plan.”
Taking a shot at President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, Tsai said Ma needed to “spend more time understanding the issue” to make informed policy decisions.
The other DPP candidates have also expressed opposition to the petrochemicals industry, but they have not asked for new facilities to be built outside the nation.
Former DPP chairperson Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) said yesterday that Taiwanese should “bravely give up the industry,” even if it meant damaging the economy.
“With Taiwan’s technology, we should be creating high-paying jobs, in the electronics industry for instance. Why must we continue to rely on the more traditional petrochemicals industry?” Hsu told FTV News. “It uses high amounts of energy and also releases large amounts of pollution.”
DIPLOMATIC MOVES: Beijing is reportedly pressing the state after reports of forming links with Taiwan, while the ministry is also planning to reopen its office in Guam soon A representative office is set to open in Somaliland at the end of this month, at the earliest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday amid reports that Beijing is sending a diplomatic delegation to the east African country. The ministry on July 1 announced that Taiwan and Somaliland would establish representative offices, following a report by the Somaliland Chronicle Web site. It said at the time that the two nations did not plan to establish formal ties. Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has instructed close confidants to explore the possibility of “mutual recognition between Taiwan and Somaliland,” the Somaliland Chronicle reported
‘IMMORAL, INSINCERE’: Huang Kun-huei said that Ma was ‘distorting history’ in claiming that Lee Teng-hui laid the foundation for the so-called ‘1992 consensus’ Former Presidential Office secretary-general Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) on Saturday rejected former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) claim that former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) had been a proponent of Beijing’s “one China” principle. Lee, who served as president from 1988 to 2000, died in Taipei on Thursday last week. After visiting the Taipei Guest House on Saturday to pay his respects to Lee, Ma posted on Facebook that “28 years ago on this day” Lee hosted a session of the now-defunct National Unification Council, during which he passed a resolution on the “one China” principle. That resolution became the basis of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s
A Belgian man who tested positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan last week is likely to have contracted the disease in Taipei in late June, National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Public Health vice dean Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday reported that the man, who is in his 20s, came to Taiwan for work on May 3 and tested positive on Wednesday last week as he was about to depart. The man in March reported loss of taste and smell, the center said, adding that he worked in Changhua County, but visited Taipei several times,
NEW ERA: Taiwan, which has controlled its virus outbreak, now faces the challenge of safely resuming economic exchanges with other nations, Chang Shan-chwen said People should not focus entirely on having zero new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Taiwan, but neglect overall control over the disease situation, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) specialist advisory panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said yesterday. Chang made the remark at a forum in Taipei discussing the steps Taiwan should take in the post-pandemic era, organized by the Chinese-language magazine Global Views Monthly. Chang, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩), and Stanford University’s Center for Policy, Outcomes and Prevention director C. Jason Wang (王智弘) each made a presentation, followed by a panel discussion with Chang, Wang and Buddhist Tzu
RSS