Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday agreed after a round of negotiations to ask Premier William Lai (賴清德) to deliver an oral report at the legislature in Taipei on May 10 about Wednesday’s shutdown of the No. 2 reactor at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里).
Shortly after a legislative meeting began, members of the KMT caucus flocked to and occupied a podium where Lai was scheduled to answer questions from lawmakers.
They vowed to obstruct the proceedings until Lai agrees to give a report on Wednesday’s incident.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
They criticized the DPP administration for allowing the incident to happen, its “failing” energy policy and its plan to hike electricity prices next month.
The incident is believed to have been caused by the sensitivity of a steam valve in the reactor being set too high, prompting the unit to trip after rising pressure triggered the safety mechanism.
Lai and several members of the KMT and DPP caucuses later held closed-door negotiations on how the government should respond to the incident.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
In the afternoon, KMT lawmakers agreed to disperse to allow the question-and-answer session to proceed.
During the session, Lai confirmed that the caucuses had made an arrangement for him to brief lawmakers on May 10 about the incident.
Asked by KMT Legislator Yosi Takun (孔文吉) whether the incident was indicative of negligence on the part of state-run Taiwan Power Co and the Atomic Energy Council, Lai said the two agencies must be more careful when dealing with nuclear reactors.
Prior to the meeting, the premier told reporters that the government would make safety its top priority, respect professional decisions and follow standard operating procedure in its effort to bring the reactor back online.
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
RSS