An alliance of anti-nuclear groups yesterday gave the government an ultimatum to announce by Thursday a halt to construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) and operations on the nation’s first, second and third plants.
The groups said if their condition are not met, they would stage a continuous protest on Ketagalan Boulevard and besiege the Presidential Office Building.
They also called for the government to “give power back to the people” and to amend the “birdcage” Referendum Act (公民投票法) because of what they called its “unusually” high threshold.
Photo: CNA
The event’s head coordinator and Green Citizens’ Action Alliance secretary-general, Tsuei Su-hsin (崔愫欣), told a press conference on Ketagalan Boulevard yesterday that a series of events would be held in support of former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Lin I-hsiung’s (林義雄) planned hunger strike today.
The groups said that multiple anti-nuclear events were launched yesterday nationwide in opposition to the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
At Greater Kaohsiung’s Formosa Boulevard KMRT Station, the Southern Taiwan Anti-Nuclear Alliance yesterday handed out yellow ribbons. At Taipei’s Daan Forest Park, anti-nuclear protesters are to gather every evening starting tonight, Tsui said.
In Chiayi County, students from National Chung Cheng University are organizing anti-nuclear appeals involving staging sit-ins on campus and an event outside the Chiayi Railway Station, Tsui added.
At the Greater Taichung high-speed rail station, student sit-ins are planned nightly starting today, Tsui said, adding that civic forums would also be held in Chiayi on Thursday and Friday.
Tsui urged supporters to wear or tie the yellow ribbons to their bags to help symbolize the unity and ubiquity of the movement, adding that the joint coalition would also post a petition to its Web site today.
Tsui added that she hoped supporters of the movement would start putting pressure on local legislators and candidates in the seven-in-one elections.
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