A man who gave up his US citizenship to become a Taiwan national added his voice yesterday to the growing opposition to the proposed Suao-Hualien freeway.
"The defects of an environmental impact assessment for the construction of the Suao-Hualien freeway deserve careful review," said Robin Winkler (文魯彬), founder and director-general of newly formed Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Taiwan (台灣蠻野心足生態協會).
Winkler, whose Chinese name is Wen Lu-bin, brought up his questions about the assessment yesterday at a press conference held in Taipei by environmental groups, Hualien residents and lawmakers.
"It's terrible because the assessment lacks for comprehensive concerns over diverse issues, including water resources and ecological systems," Winkler said.
The environmental impact assessment for the NT$96.2 billion project was passed by the Environmental Protection Administration on March 15, 2000. However, the assessment acknowledged that the project could have unforeseen environmental effects that would have to be dealt with as they are encountered.
Winkler, a lawyer who has worked in Taiwan as a legal consultant to foreign investors for nearly three decades, became a Taiwanese citizen in October last year after he gave up his American citizenship early last year.
From the end of 2002 to the middle of last year, Winkler spent time in Hualien convalescing from lung cancer.
"Hualien, whose quality of life remains excellent, should not be developed without a well-planed scheme," Winkler said.
Believing that Earth needs a good lawyer, Winkler founded the Wild at Heart legal Defense Association, based on the US-based Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, now called Earthjustice.
Using resources at Winkler Partners, a Taipei-based law firm in which he is a partner, Winkler created the association with the hope it will play a leading role in shaping the development of environmental law in Taiwan. Winkler believes that becoming an ROC citizen rather than a Taipei-based American would help him to think more locally.
Winkler said the government had simplified the logic of building the freeway in terms of the effects it would have on Hualien's future prosperity.
"We don't see any concern about sustainable development on the project," he said.
Winkler's concerns were echoed by environmentalists, experts and legislators.
Lai Wei-chieh (賴偉傑), secretary-general of the Green Citizens' Action Alliance, said that the project needs to be treated seriously because it will pass through 13 faults, 10 pre-historic sites, 17 environmentally sensitive areas and along one of the most earthquake-prone areas in Taiwan.
Lee Yung-jaan (
"Building a freeway brining more tourists to the rural county will just create more problems to sustainable development in Hualien," Lee said.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun in early December halted the project for three months to give Hualien residents more time to consider the plan.
Yang Shoun-chyuan (楊守全), the convener of the Hualien Dreamers' Union (洄瀾夢想聯盟), said the issue should be discussed after the March presidential election, when the parties will have calmed down.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
RSS