The No. 2 reactor of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County is to be closed on Saturday next week. Taiwan would then officially become the first country in Asia that has nuclear plants, but is “nuclear power free,” a long-time milestone in the nation’s energy transformation. The Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant and the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant were decommissioned in 2019 and 2023 respectively, after their 40-year operation permits expired.
National electricity consumption last year reached a historical high of 283.35 terawatt hours. As electricity demand is forecast to grow by 2.8 percent annually to 2033, the decommissioning of the nuclear power plants has, unsurprisingly, raised concerns about a potential energy shortfall, even though nuclear power accounted for only about 4 percent of total electricity generation last year, compared with fossil-fuel fired thermal power, which accounted for 82 percent, and renewable energy, which made up 12 percent and surpassed 10 percent for the first time.
The government has vowed to speed up the activation of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) power generation units at the Hsinta, Sun Ba and Datan power plants, which could produce 4.81 gigawatts (GW) to compensate for the 0.95GW power generation lost from decommissioning Ma-anshan’s No. 2 reactor.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and nuclear power advocates are pushing to extend the lifespan of nuclear power plants by 20 years. However, they have failed to provide practical measures to solve the problems caused by using nuclear power, including the disposal of radioactive waste, and the safety risk it poses during natural disasters.
The opposition has consistently hindered the construction of non-nuclear power generation facilities, with excuses such as “LNG deliveries could be blocked by Chinese military actions,” while deliberately ignoring how nuclear power plants could be the most vulnerable targets in case of military conflict. It has also rejected the government’s proposed NT$100 billion (US$3.3 billion) budget to reduce Taiwan Power Co’s losses, mainly due to rising international fuel prices and constructions to improve power generation. Instead, it has proposed a cash handout of NT$10,000 to Taiwanese nationals, which is obviously a political tactic.
Taiwan needs to face its energy problems and cannot just rely on the extension of aging nuclear power plants’ operation. More efforts and resources should be deployed to boost energy supply, such as expanding non-nuclear energy generation, upgrading the electricity grid, enhancing electricity storage and exploring new energy production technologies.
The government’s policy of “replacing coal with gas” has reduced thermal power plants’ carbon emissions by more than 10 percent. The expansion of LNG-fired energy generation, which accounted for 42 percent of the national energy generation last year, surpassing coal, could be a rational and practical choice.
The nation should accelerate the production of renewable energy, which has fallen behind the original goal of reaching 20 percent by this year. Given that a growing number of international high-tech firms have vowed to use more green energy and are willing to invest in its production, the government should ease regulations and provide incentives to encourage more green energy investments.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has said that the government is open to international collaborations on new nuclear power technologies. However, those should be based on safety requirements, proper waste management and massive societal support.
While Taiwan is pursuing high-tech industrial development and national security resilience, it also needs the determination and wisdom to make the right choices in its non-nuclear energy policy.
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
It is being said every second day: The ongoing recall campaign in Taiwan — where citizens are trying to collect enough signatures to trigger re-elections for a number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — is orchestrated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), or even President William Lai (賴清德) himself. The KMT makes the claim, and foreign media and analysts repeat it. However, they never show any proof — because there is not any. It is alarming how easily academics, journalists and experts toss around claims that amount to accusing a democratic government of conspiracy — without a shred of evidence. These
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international