Taiwanese yesterday voted against relocating a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project from its planned site by 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent, a result that would alleviate the government’s concerns of meeting its 2025 goal of phasing out nuclear power.
Official results showed that 4,163,464 people voted against and 3,901,171 voted in favor.
The electorate was asked to vote on whether Taiwan’s third LNG terminal project should be relocated from its planned site near algal reefs off Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音).
Photo: CNA
For a referendum to pass, the number of votes in favor must reach 4.95 million, one-quarter of the total number of eligible votes, and be higher than the number of votes cast against the question.
A total of 19.82 million people were eligible to vote, but the turnout was just 41.09 percent, the commission said.
Environmentalist Pan Chong-cheng (潘忠政), who initiated the referendum, told a news conference in Taipei that he and supporters of relocating the terminal project were disappointed in the result, but would accept it.
“We cannot lose heart over the result, as there is still plenty of work for us to do to continue protecting the algal reefs,” he said.
Groups seeking to protect the reefs would focus on the outcome of an environmental impact assessment of the project and whether CPC Corp, Taiwan would honor its promise to avoid damaging the reefs, Pan said.
Pan attributed the referendum’s failure to the government, saying that some information spread by officials was false.
He said that the referendum was not intended to halt construction of the terminal, but to relocate the project, Pan said.
“We gained widespread support among young people when collecting signatures, but today the ratio of young people who voted in the referendum is much lower than expected... Why? I think some of them received false information, could not make up their mind and chose not to vote,” Pan said.
The government worked hard to encourage people to vote against the referendum questions, and “environmental groups could not compete with the government,” he said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, which oversees the state-run project, said in a statement that the referendum results show that most Taiwanese approve of the government’s energy plans.
The ministry would require CPC to consider ecological protection in constructing the terminal, it said.
CPC failed its first environmental impact assessment in October, but corrected the issues the review committee said were unsatisfactory, and it would apply for a second assessment as soon as possible, CPC spokesman Chang Ray-chung (張瑞宗) said.
While the question was initiated as the nation’s first referendum focused on environmental protection, it became a political battlefield — with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) concerned that the government’s energy plans would be compromised if the project was forced to relocate, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) favored the referendum as a means of criticizing the DPP’s performance.
The ministry said that construction of the terminal is essential to the nation’s energy security, as the government plans to generate more power by burning natural gas, as the two other terminals have been running at full capacity.
Aiming to phase out nuclear power by 2025, the government plans to replace nuclear power with natural gas and green energy, raising the ratio of power generated by burning natural gas to 50 percent, the ministry said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
RSS