The National Development Council (NDC) should not exploit the nation’s farmland by exempting state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp’s (Taisugar) land developments under 10 hectares from environmental impact assessments (EIA), environmental groups said yesterday.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in May proposed that developments on Taisugar land bigger than 1 hectare should undergo an EIA.
However, NDC Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) provoked criticism at the Executive Yuan on Wednesday last week when she proposed to loosen the requirement to developments bigger than 10 hectares in a meeting about expediting industrial investment.
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan and 11 other groups yesterday issued a joint statement denouncing the council’s proposal.
Responding to New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming’s (徐永明) questions at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, Chen said land development in non-urban areas within 10 hectares can do without an EIA.
It is curious that development on Taisugar land should conform to stricter regulations, she said, adding that the EPA should offer a more convincing explanation for the divergent standard it proposed.
“Some of Taisugar’s land is no longer suitable for farming, such as the saline areas in Tainan,” she said. “We have to face reality and re-evaluate the status quo of the company’s land.”
Environmental groups said Taisugar lands are supposed to be public properties, rather than a private asset.
Controversies about Taisugar’s farmland started with former premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) policy in 2006 to encourage investment, Citizen of the Earth director Tsai Huei-hsun (蔡卉荀) said.
Under the policy, Taisugar in the same year relinquished control over 3,385 hectares of farmland for the development of industrial parks and many agricultural lands were gradually ruined by pollution, she said.
For example, the corporation leased its Sinyuan Farm (新園) in Kaohsiung — a total of 60.2 hectares — to six metal and chemical companies, Tsai said.
Four of the six developers evaded the EPA’s Environmental Impact Assessment procedures by dividing their development areas into smaller plots under 10 hectares, Tsai said, adding that construction of the factories has almost finished.
To preserve the nation’s farmland and avert a potential food crisis, the council should withdraw its proposal and Premier Wiliam Lai (賴清德) should avoid repeating the mistakes of the former administration, the groups 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