NUCLEAR POWER
Referendum passes hurdle
The Central Election Commission said on Tuesday that a referendum on the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City, has passed the initial hurdle after garnering endorsement from more than 120,000 people. The referendum question: “Do you support the installation of fuel rods in the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City?” was initiated by National Taiwan University professor Kao Cheng-yan (高成炎) and received 121,831 endorsements, the commission said. The commission said that it has sent the results to the Executive Yuan for confirmation by its Referendum Review Committee. In the second stage, the initiative will need to obtain the endorsment of 5 percent of the total electorate, or more than 904,000 people, before the referendum can go ahead, the commission said.
TOURISM
Taoyuan airport ranked 18th
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport was named the 18th-best airport worldwide in the World Airport Awards yesterday, up six places from last year. It was the airport’s best performance in the annual awards, following its rankings of 24th and 29th in the past two years respectively, said Taoyuan International Airport Co, which operates the airport. The improved ranking could be attributed to the renovation of the airport’s Terminal 1 and smooth progress of a project to improve restrooms, the company said. The airport was ranked No. 10 in Asia and No. 4 among airports that handle between 30 million and 40 million passengers annually.
TOURISM
EVA named 12th-best airline
EVA Airways (EVA) was yesterday named the 12th-best airline at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. In the rankings, which are dominated by Asian carriers, EVA follows Cathay Pacific Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Turkish Airlines, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Garuda Indonesia, Asiana Airlines, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa and Qantas. EVA was also named the sixth-best airline in Asia. The awards were based on a 10-month survey of nearly 19 million air travelers from 100 countries that examined passenger satisfaction across 41 performance indicators — including the check-in and boarding process, onboard seat comfort, cabin cleanliness and food quality.
FOOD
FDA slams meat packers
Only two out of a total of 86 meat packing plants in the nation passed food safety standards, the Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday, demanding immediate improvements. The majority failed food safety regulations, including two crucial food management systems upon which consumers rely — Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) and Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) — the administration said. The HACCP is a set of measures designed to prevent food products from various hazards during production, while the GHP is meant to guarantee food safety from production to storage and sale. Only two meat packing plants passed the tests, while 69 reported minor flaws and will be supervised to make sure improvements are made, the administration said. The remaining 15 plants were well short of required standards and have been instructed to improve within a certain time period, it said. In terms of tests on food additives, 30 percent of the plants failed because they do not maintain professional management systems, the administration said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard