While the Council of Grand Justices has ruled that the Cabinet's decision to scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四) was "flawed," the DPP government has shown no signs of making a concession in the continuing "political struggle" triggered by the plant's construction.
"The KMT's trick is to create their so-called win-win situation by asking the Cabinet to continue the plant's construction in exchange for the premier remaining in his post. The DPP will never accept it," a source in the DPP said yesterday, adding that the party would do all it could to keep its political promise -- to abandon the nuclear plant forever.
The source added that top-ranking DPP officials have come up with a set of strategies to counteract any move by the opposition in the near future, saying that "the worst impact triggered by the plant has actually passed." He made the remarks to brush aside concerns that the DPP government may not survive the continuing political fallout from the cancellation of the project.
Government spokesman Su Tzen-ping (
"The interpretation made by the grand justices did not specify that the order to discontinue the plant was invalid, so the Cabinet's decision will stand," Su said yesterday, adding that the Cabinet would take initiatives to conduct negotiations with the opposition alliance.
Su added that "Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Cabinet Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
Chiou, however, said that the legislature had no right of veto over the Cabinet's report on the plant's cancellation.
DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), in addition, expressed his hope that the grand justices' ruling could provide a possible solution for the political deadlock, urging the legislature to resume the premier's legislative interpellation as soon as possible. Chang has been treated as a persona non grata by the legislature and prevented from attending any legislative functions since Oct. 30. It remains unclear whether he will be able to enter the Legislative Yuan when the next legislative session begins on Feb. 20.
Meanwhile, the DPP's department of social development will continue to seek public support for the government's decision, including that of anti-nuclear activists.
"Faced with possible backlash from the anti-nuclear lobby, I am under great pressure. But, I hope they can understand [the DPP's difficulties]," Lee Wen-ying (李文英), the department's director said, adding that the party would prepare for the worst possible outcome.
Lee, in addition, appealed to the public to support the party in the year-end legislative elections so that the DPP would become the majority party in the legislature, facilitating the passage and implementation of legislative bills proposed by the party.
Echoing Lee's view, director of the DPP's survey center Chen Chun-lin (
He said this showed that the DPP's anti-nuclear campaigns had made a positive impact on the public.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so