An internal Web site of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) has posted a notice urging employees to support a referendum to cancel a government policy to phase out nuclear power, apparently breaching laws on government neutrality, New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said yesterday.
In a question-and-answer session at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, Vice Minister of Civil Service Tsai Hsiu-chuan (蔡秀涓) confirmed that such posts should be illegal and said that she would look into the matter.
Huang said the post, which was on an employees-only Web site of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Ma-anshan (馬鞍山), Pingtung County, was entitled: “The Nov. 24 referendum to keep nuclear power, allowing the nation to develop clean energy and keeping the sky clear.”
Photo: Copy by Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
The referendum, one of 10 to be held tomorrow alongside the nine-in-one local elections, asks voters whether they agree to scrap Article 95, Paragraph 1 of the Electricity Act (電業法), which stipulates that all nuclear power plants in the nation must cease operations by 2025.
“Agree to scrap the ‘nuclear-power free homeland’ clause in Article 95 of the Electricity Act. The government should not shut down all nuclear power plants by 2025 before members of the public reach a consensus on the matter,” read a screenshot of the post provided by Huang.
According to Article 10 of the Civil Service Administrative Neutrality Act (公務人員行政中立法), civil servants cannot use any power, means or opportunity obtained through their position to ask people to vote in a certain way or to not vote in elections or referendums, Huang said.
“Is it legal to make a post on a Web site saying who should be voted Taipei mayor or New Taipei City mayor? The answer is, of course, no. Is that not the same with referendums?” he said, adding that the Web site is a public resource.
Tsai initially said that she was unfamiliar with related laws, but later agreed that such posts should be illegal, adding that she would have to look into the details.
Following the meeting, Taipower said that the post was made by union members and that it had already been removed.
Taipower respects every employee’s opinions on the referendum, but posting them on company Web sites is “inappropriate,” company spokesman Hsu Tsao-hua (徐造華) said.
Taipower has 27,000 employees and many different unions, he said, adding that the post was made by a union related to nuclear energy departments and does not represent the company’s view.
Taipower has enhanced employee education to ensure that they follow principles of administrative neutrality and refrain from promoting or discussing referendums on public platforms, he added.
Additional reporting by Lin Ching-hua
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolleys, the company said in a Facebook post. The ban intends to maintain order and protect travelers’ safety, as the airport often sees large crowds of people, it said, adding that it has stepped up publicity for the regulation, and those who do not comply after a spoken warning would be reported to the police. The company yesterday said that
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
RSS