The Ministry of Economic Affairs will publish a comprehensive safety assessment report on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant before August, when a referendum is tentatively set to take place to decide the fate of the controversial plant, the nation’s top economics official said yesterday.
Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) said that if the power plant failed to meet safety standards, the ministry would never allow Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) to operate it and a referendum is not needed.
“Basically, we aim to ensure that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant can operate safely, so the purpose for holding a referendum is meaningful,” Chang said at the legislature’s Economics Committee.
In response to rising public concern about the safety of the power plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), Chang reiterated that the ministry has made operational safety its top priority and is conducting various tests to safeguard the nation’s security.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) said the ministry should follow public opinion and abandon construction of the power plant immediately to reduce government expenditure.
In response, Chang said the ministry, as the supervisor of Taipower, was only implementing a project that was approved by the Executive Yuan and the legislature, adding that the ministry has no option but do its job according to schedule.
“We will let the public decide whether to operate the plant,” Chang said.
In response to another question, Chang said he could not promise lawmakers that he would step down if the consumer price index rose above 2.5 percent this year, or if electricity rates are not frozen in October.
“I only have to fulfill my duty as minister of economic affairs. I don’t have to make irresponsible promises,” he said.
Chang also said Taiwan’s talks with Singapore and New Zealand on proposed economic partnership agreements were expected to be completed by the first half of this year.
However, he did not give an exact timetable for the conclusion of the agreements, saying that Taiwan could not make a unilateral announcement because the negotiations involve other parties.
More than 20,000 employees at Apple Inc supplier Foxconn Technology Group’s (富士康) huge Chinese plant, mostly new hires not yet working on production lines, have left, a Foxconn source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The departures from the world’s largest iPhone factory dealt a fresh blow to the Taiwanese company, which has been grappling with strict COVID-19 restrictions that have fueled worker discontent and disrupted production ahead of Christmas and January’s Lunar New Year holiday. Concerns are mounting over Apple’s ability to deliver products for the busy holiday period as the worker unrest lingers at the Zhengzhou plant, which produces the
FACTORY TUMULT: The departure of new workers impact production less than the quarantines imposed on existing employees, a worker at China’s ‘iPhone city’ said Turmoil at Apple Inc’s key manufacturing hub in Zhengzhou is likely to result in a production shortfall of almost 6 million iPhone Pro units this year, a person familiar with assembly operations said. The situation remains fluid at the plant and the estimate of lost production could change, the person said, asking not to be named discussing private information. Much depends on how quickly Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the Taiwanese company that operates the facility, can get people back to assembly lines after violent protests against COVID-19 restrictions. If lockdowns continue in the weeks ahead, production could be set further
’INHERENT VULNERABILITIES’: The country has been working with the US to build its own lithium and rare earth mines in a bid to curb China’s dominance in the market Australia is vowing more assertive scrutiny of foreign investments in key commodities tied to electric vehicles and clean energy, in a potential warning to China which dominates the market. Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has asked the country’s Treasury to work with the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board and other stakeholders to undertake a review of foreign investment in sectors such as lithium and rare earths, he told a conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’ll need to be more assertive about encouraging investment that clearly aligns with our national interest in the longer term,” Chalmers said. Although Chalmers did not directly identify China investment as
HOLIDAY SEASON OMEN: Low-cost brands and high-end retailers had the most foot traffic, leaving mid-range stores struggling on what used to be their biggest sales day US retailers discounted heavily on Black Friday to clear out bloated inventories, but customers responded with only modest traffic, leaving profitability in doubt for many chains. Brick-and-mortar retailers, which were hit hard by COVID-19 closures and shoppers seeking to avoid the virus, saw in-store traffic on Friday tick up 2.9 percent from last year’s shopping event, data compiled by Sensormatic Solutions showed. US consumers are still spending, but they are growing more cautious after contending this year with the highest inflation rates in four decades. They are also keeping a sharper lookout for deals, and retailers — many of them still heavy
RSS