Opponents of a planned landfill project in Tainan yesterday gathered outside the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, urging the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) not to use the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) to “bully” people fighting for land justice.
Ocin Environmental Co plans to build the landfill on a plot of land which is easily eroded and holds little water or vegetation in Nioupu Borough (牛埔) in Tainan’s Longci District (龍崎). The site covers 41.19 hectares and would be used to bury 18.7 million tonnes of industrial waste.
While the project was approved by the Environmental Protection Administration in 2003, opponents said it would destroy the natural landscape and pollute the Erren River (二仁溪).
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
About 100 residents on March 14 petitioned the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industrial Development Bureau to revoke its approval of the project.
Later that day, they marched to the DPP headquarters in Taipei to petition DPP Legislator Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), a potential candidate for Tainan’s mayoral election at that time, but were surrounded by hundreds of police because President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was attending a central Standing Committee meeting.
Among the petitioners, Nioupu Borough warden Richard Chen (陳永和) and Tainan Education Union secretary-general Hsu You-jen (許又仁) last month received summons from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, which yesterday asked them about their alleged contravention of the act.
They originally sat in a park across from the party headquarters, but were guided by police to sit outside the headquarters to avoid sunburn, Chen told a news conference before entering the office.
Most of the rally’s participants were elderly people in their 70s or 80s, who expressed their opinions in a mild manner, but the DPP chose to drive them away with police force, Hsu said.
Hsu has decided to run for Tainan city councilor in the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 24 and to continue protesting against the project, He added.
It is ironic that the DPP uses the act to suppress activists protecting their own land when it has vowed to abolish a requirement that people should obtain government approval before holding a rally, Environmental Rights Foundation chief executive Tu Yu-wen (涂又文) said, adding that the DPP has yet to deliver on its promise.
The office questioned the two until about 4pm yesterday, but did not make any announcements, Chen said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
RSS