The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus yesterday criticized the Cabinet’s Forward-Looking Infrastructure Development Program for the development of renewable energy sources as ill-advised and an attempt by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to seek re-election.
The lawmakers said the eight-year, NT$880 billion (US$28.71 million) Forward-Looking program — which the government says aims to develop renewable energy sources, railway transportation, digital and water infrastructures and to minimize developmental gaps between urban and rural areas — is just an effort to funnel money toward DPP-governed municipalities, not efficient budgeting.
The government — on top of an annual NT$25.6 billion budget — has planned a special NT$24.32 billion budget, NT$16.2 billion of which is to be used to construct a “green” energy park in the Shalun area (沙崙) of Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁) to serve as a testing ground for renewable energy technologies.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The park should be built in Yunlin County, the nation’s largest producer of solar energy, instead of DPP-governed Tainan, KMT Legislator Chang Li-shan (張麗善) said.
“The park should be built in the right location if it is to deal with power shortages and the shortfall of renewable energy infrastructure. No wonder the budget has been criticized as pork-barrel spending to favor certain constituencies,” Chang said.
Questioning the government’s pledge to phase out nuclear energy and increase the nation’s renewable energy capacity to 20 percent of the total power supply by 2025, she said Taiwan only has 5,300 hectares on which solar farms could be built, making the pledge either an unfulfillable promise or one that would lead to a mass conversion of farmlands, which would further hurt the nation’s alarmingly low food self-sufficiency rate.
Electricity rates might increase with the development of renewable energy sources, as an estimated NT$1.75 trillion from the public and private sectors is to be invested in the industry from this year through 2024, but the government has not warned the public about possible rate hikes, Chang said.
“Although solar energy is renewable, solar-panel manufacturing generates a large amount of liquid pollutants, while disused solar panels and batteries are also a problem. The government should explain its pollution prevention measures and recycling plans,” the lawmaker said.
KMT Legislator Yosi Takun (孔文吉) said that some local government officials were not allowed to attend a hearing at the Legislative Yuan yesterday on the Forward-Looking program, including New Taipei City Economic Development Department Director Shi Wei-chuan (施威全).
However, Shi was later admitted to the hearing, the first of six planned hearings.
“For many KMT-governed municipalities that are excluded from the Forward-Looking program, a hearing is the only occasion where they might seek inclusion, but they are prevented from attending,” Yosi Takun said.
“The NT$880 billion was hastily approved — without any cost-effectiveness analysis — and the DPP is unwilling to listen to local governments’ opinions. What kind of a ruling party does that?” KMT Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or