The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday celebrated its 21st birthday, with Minister Steven Shen (沈世宏) vowing to carry on the hard work of his predecessors. Shen also vowed to combat global challenges such as the energy crisis and global warming.
During the ceremony, former EPA ministers Winston Dang (陳重信), Eugene Chien (簡又新), Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and Chang Chu-enn (張祖恩) were in attendance and commended the administration for its efforts in cleaning up the nation.
“In the past 21 years, the number of days Taiwan experienced bad air quality has dropped from 17 percent to 4 percent ... The number of rivers with pollution levels over the standard have dropped from 14 percent to 6.7 percent,” Shen said, adding that the nation also led the world in recycling, with daily waste per capita dropping from 1.1kg to 0.58kg.
However, massive construction projects as well as industrial development have elevated Taiwan’s carbon emissions to a level that puts it on par with the top carbon emitters in the world, Eugene Chien, the EPA’s first minister, said.
“From 1990 to 2006, while England and Germany’s emissions increased by 17 percent, and emissions in the US increased by 14 percent, Taiwan’s emissions increased by 113 percent,” he said.
“Taiwanese are now more and more aware of issues in environmental protection. However, it is also important to collaborate and make exchanges with other countries on environmental matters, as the effort to fight global warming should be taken to the international level,” he said.
Citing the Pacific Greenhouse Gases Measurement project, Dang said that “environmental diplomacy is not difficult and would be immensely helpful not only for Taiwan, but for the world.”
In the project, Taiwan offered “the last piece of the puzzle” for a group of European and Japanese scientists who wished to monitor the Earth’s greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
Taiwan did so by installing observational equipment on China Airlines passenger flights, thus providing data over the Pacific Ocean, which was data that the joint European and Japanese project lacked.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
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