The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) on Friday handed the Central Election Commission 122,000 signatures it collected backing its bid to have a referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) held at the same time as November’s seven-in-one elections.
The group’s referendum would ask voters if they agree with holding a trial run of the unfinished plant involving fuel rods.
The proposal was in response to the Executive Yuan’s decision in April that the construction of the plant’s No. 1 reactor will not continue, but it will still go through safety checks, after which it will be sealed up. It also suspended the building of the No. 2 reactor.
The group said this plan was too costly and risky, which is why it suggested an alternative.
TEPU chairman Liou Gin-show (劉俊秀) said his group held plebiscites on the matter in New Taipei City and Yilan County, but the results were rejected by the commission, which said that the nuclear plant was a national issue.
Campaign convener Kao Cheng-yan (高成炎) said that Friday marked the 40th month since the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster in Japan.
“On this special day, we are hoping that the nightmare of the Fourth Nuclear Plant will end once and for all,” he said.
Separately on Friday, New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said halting the construction of the plant and sealing it up is “both a public consensus and a goal the government is working toward.”
Additional reporting by Chen Wei-tsung
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
RSS