Opponents of nuclear power yesterday said that they would call on the government to transform its energy policy and criticized a forum planned by proponents of nuclear power as “fake.”
Former premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) last month reiterated his support for nuclear energy and announced that the Fair Winds Foundation — of which he is chairman — would hold an energy forum on Sunday together with former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) foundation.
However, opponents of nuclear energy said the forum’s title, “Civic Energy Conference,” is misleading, as it was used in previous conferences on phasing out nuclear power and promoting renewable energy sources.
The forum is being planned by former KMT bureaucrats and groups with vested interests in the development of nuclear power, therefore it should be titled “civic nuclear power conference,” Green Citizens’ Action Alliance secretary-general Tsuei Su-hsin (崔愫欣) told a news conference in Taipei.
Civic energy conferences were convened in 1998, 2009 and 2015 in response to momentous events related to energy policy, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) founding chairman Shih Shin-min (施信民) said.
They plan to host another conference this year to obtain consensus on phasing out nuclear power, given that a referendum to abolish the legal basis for the government’s goal of achieving a “nuclear-free homeland by 2025” was passed on Nov. 24 last year, sparking controversy, Shih said.
The nuclear power opponents’ conference on Monday would remember victims of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster on its eighth anniversary, help people living near nuclear power plants voice their objection to nuclear energy and discuss how Taiwan might proceed to phase out nuclear power and promote energy transition, the TEPU said.
As for two new referendum proposals filed by the Nuclear Myth Busters group founder Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修) and nuclear power advocate Liao Yen-peng (廖彥朋), including one seeking to resume construction on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, Shih said the government should not waste more funds on that “money pit.”
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it