President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday defended his administration’s efforts to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants, citing major precautionary measures at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮) that include destroying the plant if necessary to prevent a nuclear disaster.
Ma, during a meeting with a group of Japanese academics and engineers in the Presidential Office, said the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant has prompted Taiwan to examine the reasons behind the disaster and enhance the safety measures at its plants.
At the controversial Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, Ma said a system was established to destroy the plant if a disaster is about to happen.
“We can destroy the whole plant to avoid radiation leaks if the situation is about to go out of control. We firmly believe that no nuclear power should exist without nuclear safety,” he said.
Ma said that such a measure, which could be completed in 46 minutes, showed the government’s dedication to strengthening safety measures at nuclear power plants, as it continues its efforts to steadily reduce the use of nuclear power and eventually build a nuclear-free homeland.
Of the nation’s electricity supply, 40 percent comes from fossil fuels, 30 percent from natural gas and 18.5 percent from nuclear power. The rest is supplied by alternative energy sources.
Japan and Taiwan share the problem that most of their energy resources are imported, and the two nations cannot give up any energy resource, he said.
The construction of the plant has sparked waves of protests from anti-nuclear activists. The Ma administration has been pushing for the continued construction of the plant, while promising that the government would allow the public to decide via a referendum whether the construction should continue.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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