Female leaders of the anti-nuclear power movement in Taiwan said they became involved in the issue and the development of the movement because they were confident that women could play a “pivotal” role in the campaign that has swept the nation.
“I am glad that so many people stepped up and took action to voice their opinions on this important issue, but this is just the beginning. The road ahead is still long,” Irene Chen (陳藹玲), Fubon Cultural and Educational Foundation board director and founder of Mom Loves Taiwan, an association for mothers against nuclear power, said yesterday.
Chen, one of the leading figures in raising public awareness of the controversial construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮), spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a forum one day after nationwide anti-nuclear demonstrations. An estimated 200,000 people participated in the protests on the eve of the second anniversary of Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident.
At the forum, organized by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Chen said she did not pay attention to the issue until November last year, but she understood that “late is better than never” and women should step forward and make their voices heard.
After studying the issue, Chen contacted her friends, most of whom are artists, film directors or entertainers, to coordinate efforts to raise public awareness by releasing short films and other promotional materials.
The “celebrity effect” that Chen’s initiative generated was considered by some as the primary reason why the movement’s momentum has snowballed in a short period of time.
Chen credited Tokyo-based Taiwanese writer Liu Li-erh (劉黎兒), who also attended the forum, as her inspiration, as Liu was the first writer to write regularly on Japan’s nuclear situation and anti-nuclear movement in the aftermath of the 2011 disaster.
Women in Japan, especially those who have children, took instant and substantial actions right after the incident, Liu said, by demanding transparent and accurate information, strict food safety standard as well organization of anti-nuclear events that asked the Japanese government to abandon nuclear energy in an effort that has become known as the “Mother’s revolution” in Japan.
Inspired by a similar event in Japan, Liu said Taiwanese women planned to organize an “anti-nuclear 4-5-6” event in Taiwan, with a gathering to protest construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant to be held at 6pm every Friday at Liberty Square in Taipei so people could gather and plan their next moves.
“We should not let the movement’s momentum fade,” Liu said.
SELF-RELIANCE: Taiwan would struggle to receive aid in the event of an invasion, so it must prepare to ‘hold its own’ for the first 70 days of a war, a defense expert said Taiwan should strengthen infrastructure, stock up on reserves and step up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to fight against an enemy, legislators and experts said on Tuesday last week. The comments sought to summarize what the nation should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exceeded 300 days, since Feb. 24 last year. Institute of National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the war in Ukraine highlighted the importance of being ready for war. Taiwan’s development of an “asymmetrical warfare” doctrine and extending mandatory conscription to one year is a good start to preparation of defense against a
The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would delay the lifting of the indoor mask mandate, citing public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented. Earlier this week, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said officials from several ministries were working on the policy and an announcement would be made yesterday. However, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that the policy was still under review. Wang said its implementation would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors. First, the center
END OF SERIES: As the first generation of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are set to expire, the CECC would no longer offer them to children younger than four years old The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of a person infected with the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2. The Taiwanese man in his 20s arrived from Canada on Jan. 22, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division. He tested positive after reporting having a runny nose and muscle soreness while in airport quarantine, Lo said. The XBB.1.5 subvariant is the dominant strain in the US, but there is no evidence to suggest that it causes more severe illness than other Omicron subvariants, he said,
NORMALIZING TIES: The delegation led by the KMT’s Johnny Chiang is to meet with British lawmakers, think tanks and business groups to discuss developments A legislative delegation led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) arrived in the UK yesterday to rally support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Chiang heads the Legislative Yuan’s Taiwan-UK Interparliamentary Amity Association. The delegation also includes KMT legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞), Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), Sandy Yu (游毓蘭) and Wu I-ding (吳怡玎). The group is to meet with British lawmakers Alicia Kearns, who chairs the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the House Defence Select Committee; and Bob Stewart, who cochairs the
RSS