Although most Taiwanese recognize the importance of environmental protection, they have a poor grasp of the subject and even worse habits, the Taiwan Public Opinions Studies Association said at a press conference yesterday.
Drawing from a poll of 1,072 randomly selected adults aged 20 and above, association chairperson Lin Chen-yang (林鎮洋) said most people were aware of government laws and policies on the environment.
“They feel the government should spend more on protecting the environment and developing renewable energy, and that when it comes to conflicts of interest, the environment should come before development,” he said.
However, most respondents said they were not willing to spend more than 20 percent more on products that are environmentally friendly, while only 30 percent said they did something for the environment on a daily or weekly basis.
Less than 60 percent said they would inform the authorities if they witnessed violations of environmental laws, he said.
Green Party Taiwan Secretary-General Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲), who was present at the meeting, said that part of the reason for this inaction was the belief that environmental protection means sweeping streets and cleaning public toilets.
It is therefore the government’s responsibility to raise the public’s environmental consciousness to a higher level, Pan said.
“For example, while most people would say they want to ride a bike to work rather than drive, the fact remains that [vehicles] are more convenient to get around. Without the government promoting policies that affect people’s lifestyles, people are more likely to drive and less likely to change their habits,” he said.
In addition to policies set by the Environmental Protection Administration, the environmental regulations of other government agencies, such as the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, should be taken into account when assessing government efforts, he said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku
RSS