Premier William Lai (賴清德) on Saturday reiterated the government’s resolve to move away from nuclear power and make the nation nuclear-free by 2025.
Speaking at an energy forum in Tainan, Lai said that to achieve the goal, the nation will have to increase the proportion of electricity generated from “green” sources to 20 percent of the total.
In addition to the nuclear pledge, the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has also promised to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and develop alternative energy sources.
The government has called for 50 percent of the nation’s electricity to be generated by natural gas, 30 percent by coal and 20 percent by renewable sources by 2025.
About 6.5 percent of the total electricity generated last year was from renewable sources, including hydropower, according to data from state-run utility Taiwan Power Co.
During the forum, Lai said that the Cabinet would continue to work toward Tsai’s energy goals, but also called on local industries and the public to support the government in phasing out nuclear power.
Lai, who was elected Tainan mayor in 2010 before becoming premier on Sept. 8, said he had aimed to make Tainan a low-carbon city during his time in office.
That goal has not changed, Lai said, adding that he hopes to see Tainan at the forefront of “renewable” energy adoption in Taiwan, with solar panels on top of every household.
Lai also thanked the president for launching the “green” energy technology park project in the city in November last year to help the competitiveness of local industries and to bring career opportunities.
The forum, hosted by the Tainan City Government and directed by the Board of Science and Technology, was also attended by representatives from various government branches, domestic and foreign businesses, academics and non-profit organizations.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
RSS