An annual parade launched by a coalition of more than 60 groups opposed to nuclear power was held in Taipei yesterday.
Noting the anniversary on Friday of Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster, the National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform said many people in Japan have been forced to move away from their homes due to radioactive contamination, and it does not want a similar situation in Taiwan.
The theme for the parade was “farewell nuclear power and facing nuclear waste,” with activists demanding a nuclear-free nation and a fair solution to nuclear waste disposal.
Photo: CNA
Other anti-nuclear protests were also held across the nation yesterday.
More than a dozen residents living near nuclear power plants in northern Taiwan joined a crowd led by New Power Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) to protest in front of the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門), before moving onto the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and then to the unfinished Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮).
Bowing in front of a yellow banner with the names of deceased Taiwanese who had contributed to previous anti-nuclear events, and holding signs that read “30 to 40 years is enough,” “we are fed up with injustice,” and “we do not want to move 500km away from our hometown,” the protesters urged more young people to take a stand against nuclear power.
Photo: Ke Yu-hao, Taipei Times
“Standing up against nuclear power is definitely not something that only us who live in the north should do,” Northern Coast Anti-Nuclear Action Alliance chief executive Kuo Ching-lin (郭慶霖) said. “Are people waiting for the day a nuclear disaster occurs to start standing up against it?”
Meanwhile, Huang said that no one wants nuclear waste stored near their home.
“We need an independent public institution that can discuss the issues of how to dispose or where to place nuclear waste, under objective criteria and through democratic participation,” he said.
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) cannot arbitrarily decide where high-level radioactive waste should be stored, he said, adding that nuclear waste disposal is an issue the new government and legislature must face seriously.
Despite the rainy weather, thousands of people, some dressed in costumes and holding handmade signs with anti-nuclear slogans, began gathering on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei at about 2pm to join the parade, which set off at 5pm and ended at Taipei’s North Gate (北門) at 6pm.
The platform urged new legislators to respond to their seven demands, including passing a “nuclear-free homeland act” and setting a schedule for nuclear power plant retirement, introducing an energy tax, abolishing the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, monitoring radioactive contaminated food products and a fair nuclear waste disposal solution.
Attending the parade, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) said she is against Taipower’s suggestion to dispose of nuclear waste in other countries, and that the DPP agrees to conduct a comprehensive review on the ideas of an energy tax and standards for monitoring radiation-contaminated food.
A feature of this year’s parade was a 30m-long red banner with “10,000 years of nuclear waste” written on it.
The banner was held by protesters as they paraded through Taipei before they surrounded the North Gate, symbolizing how nuclear waste lasts much longer than any monument in human civilization, so Taiwanese should decide how to deal with it seriously.
The platform said about 7,000 people participated in yesterday’s parade.
President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the DPP did not take part in the parade, but she voiced her support on Facebook.
“Having a non-nuclear homeland is an objective that the DPP has insisted on,” Tsai said.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
CALL FOR PEACE: Czech President Petr Pavel raised concerns about China’s military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait and its ‘unfriendly action’ in the South China Sea The leaders of three diplomatic allies — Guatemala, Paraguay and Palau — on Tuesday voiced support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the UN on the first day of the UN General Debate in New York. In his address during the 78th UN General Assembly, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr urged the UN and all parties involved in cross-strait issues to exercise restraint and seek a peaceful resolution. “The well-being and prosperity of nations and their economies are intrinsically linked to global peace and stability,” he said. He also thanked partner nations such as Taiwan, Australia, Japan and the US for providing assistance
CROSS-STRAIT CONCERNS: At the same US Congress hearing, Mira Resnick said a US government shutdown could affect weapons sales and licenses to allies such as Taiwan A Chinese blockade of Taiwan would be a “monster risk” for Beijing and likely to fail, while a military invasion would be extremely difficult, senior Pentagon officials told the US Congress on Tuesday. Growing worries of a conflict come as China has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan, holding large-scale war games simulating a blockade on the nation, while conducting near-daily warplane incursions and sending Chinese vessels around its waters. US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner said a blockade would be “a monster risk for the PRC [People’s Republic of China].” “It would likely not succeed, and it
‘HARASSMENT’: A record 103 Chinese warplanes were detected in 24 hours, posing severe challenges to security in the Taiwan Strait and the region, the ministry said Taiwan yesterday told China to stop its “destructive unilateral actions” after more than 100 Chinese warplanes and nine navy ships were detected in areas around the nation. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) described the number of warplanes detected in 24 hours as a “recent high,” while Beijing has so far refrained from issuing any official comment on the sorties. “Between the morning of September 17th to 18th, the Ministry of National Defense had detected a total of 103 Chinese aircraft, which was a recent high and has posed severe challenges to the security across the Taiwan Strait and in the region,”
China would be making “a grave strategic mistake” if it tried to attack Taiwan, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley said in an interview with CNN that aired on Sunday. Asked by host Fareed Zakaria whether the US could repel a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, Milley said: “It is entirely possible.” Milley reiterated that the US still maintains the Taiwan Relations Act, and that it wants “a peaceful outcome between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China, and whatever that is between those two peoples.” “Militarily, I think China would make a grave strategic mistake if they attempted to
RSS