The government will continue construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), even if more than 6.89 million people vote against it in a referendum that proved invalid, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday.
According to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), 50 percent of eligible voters in the nation, about 9 million, must vote for a referendum to be valid, and of those who voted, at least 50 percent, about 4.5 million, must vote “yes” to the question asked for the referendum to be passed.
During the legislature’s question-and-answer session, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) asked Jiang what he would do if the referendum was invalid, but the number of people voting in support of suspending construction of the plant exceeded the number of people who voted for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during his reelection in January last year — about 6.89 million.
Jiang said what he would abide by the Referendum Act, according to which a turnout of less than 50 percent of eligible voters in a national referendum is considered invalid, “tantamount to failure of a referendum.”
The KMT administration is preparing for a referendum asking the public: “Do you agree that the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be halted and that it not become operational (你是否同意核四廠停止興建不得運轉)?”
Questions have been raised about putting the fate of the facility to a national referendum, with opponents saying it would not resolve the issue because the result is likely to be a large majority voting to halt construction of the facility, but with turnout not exceeding the 50 percent threshold needed for the vote to be valid.
Lin asked Jiang to respect the will of the people if more than 6.89 million votes are positive in the referendum, which she said could mean that people were opposed to Ma’s policy to put the power plant into commercial operation.
Jiang declined, saying that Lin has mixed up two different issues.
Meanwhile, several lawmakers voiced unfavorable views of the pamphlet published by the Cabinet on Thursday which aims to convince the public of the importance of the power plant .
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said she found that the contents lack specific answers to four important questions.
“On safety, it says inspection by experts is pending. On the problem of nuclear waste, it says a repository is being looked for. On whether halting construction would result in electricity shortage, it says it’s likely. And it makes no mention of how the issue would affect electricity costs,” Lu said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to