The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday criticized President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for his insistence on completing construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), saying that Ma has violated his pledge to seek a consensus on the issue.
“Ma has violated his pledge to seek a consensus with the opposition and has discredited Premier Jiang Yi-huah’s (江宜樺) plans to meet with opposition leaders to create a more friendly political climate less than 24 hours after Jiang’s extension of an olive branch [to opposition groups],” DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) was quoted as saying that Ma had reaffirmed his insistence on an additional budget allocation for the project and on the completion of construction at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, while leaving the question of whether the plant would become operational for deliberation in a meeting scheduled with KMT lawmakers on Wednesday night.
Su, who spoke to Jiang by telephone on Wednesday morning and praised the premier for his consensus-seeking efforts, said that Ma’s instructions “basically means that dialogue between the government and the opposition is unnecessary, and any expectations of a new approach and mentality by the new Cabinet are likely to be unmet.”
Ma’s instructions to the KMT caucus were “surprising and regrettable,” Su said.
The DPP called for the suspension of construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and insisted that no additional budget should be allocated to the project, which has cost billions of New Taiwan dollars, with doubts raised over safety concerns caused by alleged poor-quality construction.
“We strongly oppose Ma’s policy and advise the president not to underestimate the determination of Taiwanese for a nuclear-free homeland. The DPP’s position is in line with mainstream public opinion, which opposes the construction [of the plant] and the additional budget allocation. This position will not change,” Su said.
The KMT caucus said that former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) supported the option of finishing construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, but suspending the plant’s operations when she served as DPP chairperson.
Responding to the issue, Tsai said in Keelung that she did not understand why Ma has refused to listen to the public’s voice and has always demanded that KMT lawmakers carry out his instructions.
Early last week, Alex Huang (黃重諺), a spokesperson from Tsai’s office, admitted that Tsai had changed her views on the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant since serving as vice premier between 2007 and 2008.
During this time she was forced to support the allocation of additional budget to the project due to pressure from the KMT, which had a legislative majority, and concerns over a potential breach of contract if construction was suspended.
The situation regarding the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and public awareness of nuclear safety had also changed dramatically, the spokesperson added, since Tsai first made her position on the issue public in the DPP’s 10-year policy guidelines. These insisted on non-operation of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and on phasing out the nation’s other three operational nuclear power plants, but did not state whether the party supported completing construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
When referencing a changing situation, Huang was referring to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident in Japan and safety issues raised by former Fourth Nuclear Power Plant Safety Monitoring Committee member Lin Tsung-yao (林宗堯), who resigned his post in late 2011.
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