Next year’s No Nukes Asia Forum is to be hosted in Taiwan for the sixth time, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union said yesterday, calling on people to reject a referendum seeking to maintain the use of nuclear power.
Established in Japan in 1993, the forum has been held almost every year in different Asian nations and was hosted in Taiwan in 1995, 2002, 2005, 2010 and 2014, the union said in a statement.
With the theme “Strengthening People-to-People Solidarity: Towards a Nuclear-Free Future,” the forum was held in Manila and Bataan, the Philippines, last week and was attended by participants from across Asia, including union director Liu Jyh-jian (劉志堅) and member Gwo Jin-chywan (郭金泉).
Proponents and opponents of nuclear power still wrestle each other in many nations, especially China, Russia, France, Japan and South Korea, which have continued to develop nuclear power or export related techniques to other countries, Liu said.
Taiwan has taken the lead in proposing the phasing out of nuclear power in Asia by including last year a “nuclear power-free homeland by 2025” goal into the Electricity Act (電業法), but the nation’s anti-nuclear movement has not yet succeeded, as nuclear power supporters are attempting to scrap the policy through a referendum, he said, urging people to vote it down.
The referendum, which is to be held alongside the nine-in-one local elections on Saturday, was initiated by Nuclear Myth Busters founder Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修) and has garnered the support of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Both sides have launched increasingly intense campaigns ahead of the elections.
To debunk an “irrational nuclear scare,” the referendum’s proponents on Monday hosted a forum in Taipei, at which US-based group Environmental Progress founder Michael Shellenberger and Imperial College London molecular pathology professor Gerry Thomas were invited to speak with former Atomic Energy Council minister Tsai Chuen-horng (蔡春鴻).
The National Anti-nuclear Action Platform that day issued a statement by former US Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Gregory Jaczko saying that “nuclear power is an unreliable and expensive technology” and “energy from wind, solar and water is becoming the cheapest sustainable, clean energy source.”
Greenpeace Taiwan yesterday released an open letter by Stanford University civil and environmental engineering professor Mark Jacobson saying that Taiwan could “supply 100 percent of its electricity and energy needs with renewable energy by 2050” if “corresponding power generation and energy storage systems are actively developed.”
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
RSS