Hsinchu County Commissioner Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) joined Sinpu Township (新埔) officials and scores of local residents at a rally yesterday to protest against pollution of the township’s water source. The protesters said a central government policy allows the industrial pollution of a river that supplies water to Sinpu for drinking and irrigation purposes.
Following the protest, Chiu, Sinpu Township Mayor Lai Chiang-hai (賴江海) and Sinpu Council Speaker Wang Tseng-chi (王增基) headed for Taipei, where they said they would petition the legislature and Control Yuan to “return justice to the local residents.”
The dispute revolves around two high-tech manufacturing companies that have for many years released industrial wastewater into Siaoli River (霄裡溪) in Sinpu, which is a catchment area.
At the rally in front of the Hsinchu County Government building, protesters wore headbands that read “Refuse to Drink Toxic Water” and shouted slogans, pledging their determination to stop Chunghwa Picture Tubes and AU Optronics Corp (AUO) from polluting their drinking water source.
On Monday, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) told lawmakers that if AUO could not find another wastewater disposal location by the end of the month, its plants would be shut down. However, Chiu said his administration on Tuesday received an official notice from the EPA declaring that the Siaoli River would no longer serve as a source of drinking water.
Instead of drawing water from the river, the EPA notice said, Hsinchu County residents should go upstream to where Siaoli and Fongshan rivers (鳳山溪) merge. The central government claimed its policy took into consideration “the needs of both the local community and industry,” Chiu said, citing the notice.
Chiu accused the central government of “legalizing a controversial measure” by permitting the two companies to keep polluting the Siaoli River, damaging the health of local residents and imposing on the right of farmers to irrigate their crops with clean water. Wang said some local farmers have complained that consumers have had doubts about crop safety since learning that the water in Siaoli River is being used for irrigation.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), who represents an electoral district in the county, accused the EPA of “helping [industries] to play foul.”
In response, Shen said the EPA was acting “in accordance with the law,” since Siaoli River has not been designated as a source of drinking water after several rounds of environmental impact assessment meetings.
Shen added, however, that he would continue urging the two companies to reduce the volume of pollutants they discharge into the river.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS