Environmentalists yesterday staged a demonstration outside Taipei Fubon Bank’s headquarters in Taipei, calling it an evil-hearted company as it is one of the shareholders of Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co’s (KKPTC) planned petrochemical plant in Changhua County.
KKPTC’s plan to build refineries on coastal wetland in Changhua County’s Dacheng Township (大城) has sparked controversy, with many residents — especially oyster farmers — worried that a petrochemical plant would bring pollution and destroy the oyster farming industry.
Holding up placards that read “Fubon is evil,” “Save pink dolphins” and “Cut up your Fubon credit cards,” environmentalists yesterday tore up replica Fubon credit cards in the protest.
PHOTO: CNA
LIFE EXPECTANCY
“According to studies, [the pollution brought by] the petrochemical industrial park will shorten the average life expectancy in the country by 23 days,” Green Party Taiwan convener Pan Han-sheng (潘翰聲) said. “Taipei Fubon Bank, whose investment in the petrochemical park project accounts for 4 percent of the total amount of investment, is responsible for one day’s decrease.”
Pan said that according to the Equator Principles upheld by over 70 multinational banks around the world, a signatory financial institution should not provide mortgages to development projects that do not take into consideration corporate social responsibilities and environmental protection.
“Fubon calls itself an international bank, but apparently it doesn’t care much about such issues,” said Pan, urging the public to boycott the bank and all its financial products and services if it does not withdraw its investment in the petrochemical park project.
“If you have a Fubon account, close it; if you invest through Fubon, stop doing so; if you play a sports lottery that’s run by Fubon, don’t do it anymore,” Pan said. “With every cent you put into the hands of Taipei Fubon Bank, you’re contributing to a project that may kill you.”
ENDANGERED DOLPHINS
Environmentalists and Changhua County residents worry that pollution from the petrochemical park will not only destroy the local agricultural, fishing and fish farming industries, but will also kill critically endangered pink dolphins.
Taiwan Environmental Protection Union Changhua Division executive director Shih Yueh-ying (施月英) said that although there are many other shareholders in the project, “Taipei Fubon Bank is the only one that is not in the petrochemical industry. Hence, the bank’s own business would not be affected if it withdrew from the project. That’s why we’re aiming at the bank first.”
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS