Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said his views on nuclear energy and on former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung’s (林義雄) hunger strike have been “distorted and taken out of context” by a media report.
Lee was quoted in a Chinese-language United Daily News report yesterday as questioning how many people would agree with Lin, a staunch anti-nuclear advocate, and where Taiwan’s electricity would come from if it phased out nuclear power.
A follow-up report by state-funded Central News Agency quoted an unnamed source in the Presidential Office saying that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) “praised Lee for asking the right questions,” implying he endorsed the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) and nuclear power.
In a message posted on Facebook yesterday afternoon, Lee said his position on nuclear energy has been clear and consistent.
“I oppose what we currently have, which is high-risk and high-pollution uranium-based nuclear power. It is never the only option. I support working toward thorium-based nuclear technology,” he said.
The 91-year-old has never denied his pro-nuclear power position, but insisted that the decision should be made on the basis of scientific research and that the government is obliged to develop better technology, such as nuclear fusion, to replace the current technology of nuclear fission.
Lee said that he was not questioning Lin’s nuclear-free advocacy and support base, but was saying that a leader of a country should listen to the people and to find out whether most people share the same concerns about the safety of the power plant in Gongliao.
If Taiwanese were to decide to halt the construction of the plant in a national referendum, the government would be responsible for exploring alternatives for power generation, Lee said.
Lee said that he had proposed a series of measures in the past, among them privatizing state-owned Taiwan Power Co, improving electricity production and distribution efficiency, as well as promoting renewable energy and energy-conservation.
Lee said that “it would be unfortunate if someone had intentionally taken what I said out of context to achieve their personal agenda and go against what the public wants.”
“If a head of state cannot understand public opinion and can only hear what he wants to hear, that will be a great disaster for democracy,” Lee said.
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