Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential hopeful Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday defended her plans to move the nation’s petrochemicals industry to the Middle East, calling the effort environmentally friendly, viable and urgently needed.
On a visit to the Yilan Green Expo, the contender for the DPP’s presidential nomination said the sensitive wetlands in Changhua County were an “unsuitable” location to build a US$600 billion (US$20.5 billion) petrochemical complex.
Tsai said a better idea would be to build the facilities in oil producing regions, referring to comments she made last week proposing that future petrochemicals plants be built either in Saudi Arabia or other oil-producing Middle Eastern states.
“It’s a plan that has been thoroughly considered and is feasible,” she said. “Not only would it help resolve some of Taiwan’s environmental problems, but it would also help ensure our supply of oil. That is the expert opinion.”
Her comments came amid controversy over whether construction should start at the proposed eighth naphtha plant, which has drawn opposition from activists and local residents, citing health and environmental concerns.
In a rare point of disagreement, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), seen as a staunch supporter of Tsai, said on Sunday that Tsai “did not understand the petrochemicals industry” and said that halting construction could potentially cost tens of thousands of jobs.
Saying the former president needed to brush up on his knowledge of the sector, Tsai said petrochemicals technology was transferable, “unlike some other non-transferable [industries].”
She did not respond to the employment concerns raised by Lee.
“Lee could be lacking new information,” Tsai said. “It’s extremely viable to have our investors take their technology and build a petrochemicals plant in oil-producing regions ... South Korea also does this. We have to do what is best for Taiwan ... it’s not an empty plan.”
Taking a shot at President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, Tsai said Ma needed to “spend more time understanding the issue” to make informed policy decisions.
The other DPP candidates have also expressed opposition to the petrochemicals industry, but they have not asked for new facilities to be built outside the nation.
Former DPP chairperson Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) said yesterday that Taiwanese should “bravely give up the industry,” even if it meant damaging the economy.
“With Taiwan’s technology, we should be creating high-paying jobs, in the electronics industry for instance. Why must we continue to rely on the more traditional petrochemicals industry?” Hsu told FTV News. “It uses high amounts of energy and also releases large amounts of pollution.”
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
RSS