The explosions at Formosa Petrochemical Corp’s Sixth Naphtha Cracker Plant in Mailiao Township (麥寮), Yunlin County, last month, seem to have developed from an issue of industrial safety into a political power struggle. One cannot help but wonder if this will speed up a resolution of the problem.
It is important that we review the problems the plant has experienced and demand that Formosa Petrochemical make good on its social obligation to clean up the pollution caused by the explosions as well as offering compensation to those affected.
Formosa Plastics Group has made a significant contribution to Taiwan’s economic development, but it has also been provided with considerable resources and opportunities by the government, growing from a rice trader into a huge and powerful conglomerate.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp chairman Wilfred Wang (王文潮) emphasized the group’s contribution to the economy and employment, but companies are also expected to abide by environmental protection and labor laws. Today, many firms even take on a philanthropic role by making community donations and seeking to improve the quality of the local environment.
The manufacturing process in the petrochemical industry is highly dangerous and the pollution caused by the recent explosions was examined by a number of chemical and medical experts, so the public is aware of the seriousness of the matter. Thanks to news reports on both television and the Internet, the public identifies with the furious residents of Mailiao. Such contamination has a long-term impact not only on the livelihood of local farmers and fishermen, but also on groundwater and ecology.
Because of the highly contaminative nature of the industry, Formosa Petrochemical should hold itself to higher environmental and industrial safety standards to remain beyond reproach. It should also work to improve relations with local communities and carry out relief and environmental protection work.
In Taiwan, economic development has always trumped social development, and Taiwanese have paid the price in terms of environmental degradation.
The government should remain objective and handle the recent spate of industrial accidents at Formosa Petrochemical in accordance with the law.
The Yunlin County Government should also provide assistance with any follow up work.
It is to be hoped that Formosa Petrochemical will keep its promise to obey the law, assist the local community, prevent pollution, reduce gas emissions, promote risk management, improve operations and carry out sustainable management.
More important is the question: Should Taiwan continue to develop its petrochemical industry? More than 1,000 local and international experts have expressed their opposition to the eighth naphtha cracker plant proposed by Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Company in Changhua County. Hopefully the government will review their arguments and there will be public dialogue to determine what is best for Taiwan’s long-term development.
Han Tzu-Shian is a professor in the Department of Business Administration at National Chengchi University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
US president-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named US Representative Mike Waltz, a vocal supporter of arms sales to Taiwan who has called China an “existential threat,” as his national security advisor, and on Thursday named US Senator Marco Rubio, founding member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China — a global, cross-party alliance to address the challenges that China poses to the rules-based order — as his secretary of state. Trump’s appointments, including US Representative Elise Stefanik as US ambassador to the UN, who has been a strong supporter of Taiwan in the US Congress, and Robert Lighthizer as US trade
A nation has several pillars of national defense, among them are military strength, energy and food security, and national unity. Military strength is very much on the forefront of the debate, while several recent editorials have dealt with energy security. National unity and a sense of shared purpose — especially while a powerful, hostile state is becoming increasingly menacing — are problematic, and would continue to be until the nation’s schizophrenia is properly managed. The controversy over the past few days over former navy lieutenant commander Lu Li-shih’s (呂禮詩) usage of the term “our China” during an interview about his attendance
Following the BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia, last month, media outlets circulated familiar narratives about Russia and China’s plans to dethrone the US dollar and build a BRICS-led global order. Each summit brings renewed buzz about a BRICS cross-border payment system designed to replace the SWIFT payment system, allowing members to trade without using US dollars. Articles often highlight the appeal of this concept to BRICS members — bypassing sanctions, reducing US dollar dependence and escaping US influence. They say that, if widely adopted, the US dollar could lose its global currency status. However, none of these articles provide
Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), the son of former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Politburo member and former Chongqing Municipal Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai (薄熙來), used his British passport to make a low-key entry into Taiwan on a flight originating in Canada. He is set to marry the granddaughter of former political heavyweight Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政), the founder of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東). Bo Xilai is a former high-ranking CCP official who was once a challenger to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the chairmanship of the CCP. That makes Bo Guagua a bona fide “third-generation red”
RSS