A top official at the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) New Taipei City branch yesterday filed a criminal intimidation charge against nuclear power proponent Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修), a day after Huang asked a debate opponent if his “affairs are in order.”
Huang made the remarks in a televised presentation organized by the Central Election Committee over whether the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) should be activated.
A referendum on the issue is scheduled for Dec. 18.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Speaking with Taiwan Power Co’s (台電) Nuclear Power Division head Hsu Yung-hui (許永輝), who represented the government in opposing the initiative, Huang said: “You should watch your mouth, because you have a right to remain silent; I will use everything you say in a court of law.”
“Director Hsu, are your affairs in order?” Huang added. “I heard that your wife wants you to take early retirement, so you had better look me in the eyes before you tell me if I should protect you or let you sacrifice yourself.”
New Taipei City DPP branch secretary-general Chang Chih-hao (張志豪), who filed the complaint at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office, told reporters that Huang and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) must apologize for the remarks.
Photo: CNA
“Huang’s comments were not backed by evidence or science; instead they were backed by threats directed against a public [employee] and his family,” Chang said, adding: “This is deeply disturbing to the country.”
“My attorneys informed me that Huang’s threatening words were in breach of Article 305 of the Criminal Code,” he said.
Chu, who helped to organize the campaign in favor of the nuclear plant and the presentation, should take responsibility for Huang’s inappropriate comment, Chang said.
“The plant is a cobbled-together design placed right on top of a [tectonic] fault; why does the KMT push an agenda that is horrifying to the public, and alienates its own commissioners and mayors?” he asked.
“Only losers resort to threats in a debate,” said Lee Yu-hsiang (李宇翔), who is planning to run for city councilor next year.
“Huang’s anti-democratic behavior shows only that he has no argument or the necessary qualifications to discuss the referendum regarding the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant,” Lee said, adding that the public should pay attention to potential safety issues at the plant and put their trust in experts.
The KMT should prove to the country that it does not condone thuggish behavior by denouncing Huang and the referendum proposal that he initiated, Lee said.
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