The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday demanded that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) remove Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) as the nation’s representative to Japan and issue a public apology over his statements about wastewater discharge.
Japan on April 13 announced that it plans to release treated wastewater from the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, despite protests from neighboring countries.
While he lodged a protest to Tokyo on behalf of the government, Hsieh said in a Facebook post that he could not overlook the fact that Taiwan also discharges water from three nuclear power plants into the ocean.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The KMT on Thursday last week reported to the National Police Agency that it suspected Hsieh of spreading disinformation, and KMT lawmakers have since demanded that Hsieh attend a legislative meeting to report on Taiwan-Japan relations.
KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) yesterday said that South Korea, China, the Philippines and Russia have all voiced their complaints about Japan’s decision, while Taiwan’s representative spoke up for Japan and alleged that Taiwan was doing the same thing.
Fai quoted Atomic Energy Council Minister Hsieh Shou-shing (謝曉星) as saying that the wastewater Taiwan discharges meets normal standards and is different from the situation at the Japanese plant, which was destroyed during the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
Fai accused Frank Hsieh of treason, and said his comments and action made him unsuitable to represent Taiwan’s interests abroad.
Fai said he was astonished that Tsai concurred with Hsieh’s comments, adding that such comments and actions were akin to denigrating the Republic of China (ROC) before Japan.
KMT lawmakers yesterday marched to the Presidential Office to voice their complaints.
They also demanded that the Tsai administration lodge formal complaints with the Japanese government on discharging contaminated water into the sea, remove Hsieh from his post and actively participate in international efforts to monitor Japan’s handling of wastewater.
In response, the Presidential Office said that Hsieh has adequately conveyed the Taiwanese government’s concern regarding its plan to pump irradiated water out to sea in two years.
The opposition party’s political machinations are not conducive to furthering and deepening Taiwan-Japan relations, it said, adding that stirring up hatred against Japanese is not helpful to maintaining peace and stability in the region.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
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