Thousands of anti-nuclear protesters shouted “I am Taiwanese, I am against nuclear power” yesterday as they marched through downtown Taipei to call for an end to nuclear power in Taiwan on the eve of the anniversary of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) second inauguration.
“We are extremely disappointed that the government has no regard for the threat that nuclear power poses to human life,” said Kao Cheng-yan (高成炎), a former chairman of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, which organized the march. “We believe that there is only one Taiwan, that people’s lives are invaluable and that there are other viable energy resource options.”
The protesters also urged the government to revise the phrasing of the proposed national referendum to decide the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮), to amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) and to modify the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) so residents living within 50km of a nuclear plant will have the right to decide whether it operates.
Photo: Edward Lau / Reuters
In contrast to the nationwide anti-nuclear protests held in March, which drew a large number of young people who expressed their stances in artistic ways and were altogether more festive, the participants of yesterday’s rally ere mostly middle-aged and elderly. Members of civic groups, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) also took part in the protest.
“Time has proven me right,” said former premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) of the DPP, referring to the decision he made in 2000 when he was premier to halt construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant despite facing extreme pressure to finish the project.
Although the plant’s construction was eventually resumed, many people are now aware of the danger posed by nuclear energy since the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in Japan two years ago, he said.
“Is it right to establish a plant that provides only 20 to 30 years of electricity for our generation, but leaves behind harmful radioactive waste that will affect our offspring and the environment for about 240,000 years?” he said.
Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) added that it is wrong that the government has already spent more than NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) of taxpayers’ money on the plant and forces the public to live in permanent fear of a nuclear disaster.
Meanwhile, Yang Mu-huo (楊木火), secretary-general of the Yenliao Anti-Nuclear Self-Help Association, said that although the proposal to hold a local referendum in New Taipei City was rejected by the Cabinet’s Referendum Review Committee on Thursday, advocates of the local poll would continue to push forward.
Several booths were set up along the march route, including one by the TSU that gave participants the chance to throw sandals bearing slogans such as “Impeach Ma” or “Terminate nuclear power” at two cardboard mannequins labeled “Ma’s black-hearted Cabinet” and “Bandit Ma, get out.”
The marchers converged at Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office at about 5pm to hear a series of speeches. They were then treated to performances by musician Chu Yueh-hsin (朱約信) — better known as Joy Topper (豬頭皮) — and rock band The Chairman (董事長樂團) in the evening.
The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union said a few of its representatives were to head to the Legislative Yuan after the event to stage 24-hour hunger strike, after which they would begin to hold a relay sit-in protest of unlimited duration.
The Central Weather Bureau could issue a sea alert for Super Typhoon Mawar, as it is forecast to turn north and come closest to Taiwan from Tuesday to Wednesday next week. Mawar was downgraded from a super typhoon to a typhoon after sweeping across Guam on Wednesday night, knocking down trees and leaving much of the US territory without power. Many residents of Guam yesterday remained without power and utilities after Mawar tore through the remote US Pacific territory the previous night, ripping roofs off homes, flipping vehicles and shredding trees. There were no immediate reports of deaths and injuries, but the
ADJUSTMENTS: Over the next five years, every year except 2026 would have only one makeup workday to compensate for national holidays, the government said The Executive Yuan (EY) yesterday announced the official workday calendar for next year, which includes one makeup day and four holidays with more than three days off. It also announced new standards for makeup days in the event of consecutive holidays. The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration cited the importance of the Lunar New Year and Tomb Sweeping holidays to the public as its reason to mandate flexible off-days. The 115 total off-days dovetail with dates that international financial markets are closed, minimizing the effects of state holidays on stock and currency exchange trading, it said. Over the next five years, only the calendar for
Police on Sunday said they are on alert after the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) invited an alleged top leader of a Japanese criminal organization to visit Taiwan. The party and a branch of the Hongmen society reportedly invited Joji Uezu from the Kyokuryu-kai, the only yakuza group in Okinawa designated by Japanese police, to visit Taiwan along with six other people. Members of Taiwan’s Bamboo Union (竹聯幫) have reportedly participated in events hosted by the Kyokuryu-kai as early as 2015. The Okinawa Times in 2018 reported that Chang Wei (張瑋), son of former Bamboo Union leader and CUPP founder Chang An-le (張安樂),
INVASION UNPOPULAR: Chinese would likely accept their government having a softer stance toward cross-strait relations, one of the coauthors of the article said Interest among the Chinese public in the issue of China’s unification with Taiwan is low, researchers said, citing the results of a poll. An article titled “Assessing Public Support for (Non-)Peaceful Unification with Taiwan: Evidence from a Nationwide Survey in China,” published in the Journal of Contemporary China on May 14, showed that only 55 percent of those surveyed in China would support the use of military force to achieve unification with Taiwan. In the survey, which polled 1,824 people on the question of how they would like to see the issue of Taiwan’s unification with China resolved, “only one out of