The National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform yesterday called on Japan to refrain from dumping contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, warning it that it might cause up to 40 years of environmental consequences.
The group held a protest in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei, prompting the ministry to promise to relay a message to Japan through the nation’s representative office in Tokyo.
The groups first placed a large sheet featuring cutouts of marine creatures on the ground and later added radioactive warning symbols to the sheet, representing the impact of the water from the wrecked plant on the ecosystem.
Photo: CNA
After Tokyo in May began soliciting ideas on how to dispose of the contaminated water, civil organizations in Taiwan jointly sent a letter to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry urging it not dump it into the ocean, Green Citizens’ Action Alliance secretary-general Tsuei Su-hsin (崔愫欣) said.
However, Japanese media last month reported that Tokyo is planning on releasing the plant’s “treated” wastewater into the ocean, Tsuei said.
Tsai Ya-ying (蔡雅瀅), an attorney with the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, said that many migrating fish species that are important to the ecosystem travel along the Kuroshio Current that runs along the east coasts of Taiwan and Japan.
The water would contaminate their habitat, affecting the fishing industry and health of consumers, and racking up costs related to radiation detection, Tsai said, citing data from the Atomic Energy Council.
Japan should continue treating the wastewater on land, she added.
Tsai also called nuclear power operators selfish for not hesitating to pollute the oceans to save relatively little money, adding that the government is biased in their favor.
The supposedly cheap cost of nuclear power is an illusion, as the health and safety costs are passed onto others, she added.
As nuclear particles are carried by currents around the globe, the contamination might affect marine ecosystems intermittently for 30 or 40 years, Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan deputy executive director Tsai Chung-yueh (蔡中岳) said.
Ever since the plant was affected by an earthquake and a tsunami in 2011, Tokyo Electric Power has been continuously filling tanks with water used to cool damaged reactor cores, he said.
“The Fukushima nuclear disaster has not yet been solved,” but keeps on polluting, Tsai Chung-yueh said.
Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Deputy Secretary-General Hsieh Bor-huei (謝柏輝) received the complaint, saying that the ministry takes the matter very seriously.
Since the issue involves matters of environmental protection, and public health and safety, the ministry has many times expressed its concern to the Japanese government, he said.
Not only Taiwan and the international community, but also the Japanese public do not agree with the plan, Hsieh added.
Tokyo is still carefully considering its options before making a final decision, Hsieh said, adding that the ministry would relay the group’s message and urge the government to abide by the principle of transparency while evaluating its options.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,