Former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) yesterday said that he has accepted President William Lai’s (賴清德) invitation to serve as a consultant on his National Climate Change Strategy Committee, adding that he agreed with proposals to continue using nuclear energy.
The committee was one of three established one month after Lai took office on May 20, along with the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee and the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee.
Pegatron Group (和碩集團) chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), who supports the use of nuclear energy, has been retained by the president to serve as the deputy convener of the climate change committee.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Many have perceived the appointment as a significant shift from the “nuclear-free homeland” policy, which the president’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been espousing for decades.
Lee, 87, told political commentator Huang Kuang-chin (黃光芹) on her online talk show that he accepted Lai’s invitation because he had participated in many net zero emissions meetings around the world and felt obligated to inform the public about the importance of tackling challenges wrought by global warming and greenhouse gas emissions.
That more than 1,000 people died during the pilgrimage to Mecca this year shows that rising global temperatures could gradually turn the Earth into a place that is unfit for human habitation, the Nobel laureate in chemistry said, adding that humans would not survive natural disasters should global temperatures rise by 3°C.
“If we are not actively reducing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, we could become extinct like the dinosaurs,” Lee said, adding that this is the view of a responsible scientist, rather than exaggerated statements from an alarmist.
The nation’s goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050 cannot be met if the government fails to cut emissions by 50 percent by 2030, he said.
“Nuclear energy still has its disadvantages given the current level of technology, but the potential disasters that it could bring cannot compare with the complete destruction of the human race,” Lee said.
“What Tung said is what he truly believes in, and he expressed his support for nuclear energy as an entrepreneur and from a scientific perspective. The position has made him a target of criticism, but he is heading in the right direction,” he added.
Lai also knows that the reform is necessary for society to change, but he is under a lot of pressure to make the first step, Lee said.
Given the size and density of Taiwan’s population, the nation cannot sustain itself by simply using renewable energy to replace the use of fossil fuels without using nuclear energy, or extending the use of existing nuclear power plants, Lee said.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS