Following President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) opposition to the construction of a petrochemical complex on wetlands along the coast of Changhua County on Friday, Minister of the Interior (MOI) Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) announced that the ministry would soon begin the process to turn the area into a nature reserve.
“I have asked the Construction and Planning Agency [CPA] to begin negotiating with the local government to turn the coastal wetlands in Changhua County into a nature reserve,” Jiang said in a press release yesterday. “If everything goes smoothly, we hope to hold the first expert meeting in two weeks to plan the wetlands park.”
The announcement came one day after Ma voiced his opposition to Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co’s plan to build a petrochemical complex in the wetlands because of strong opposition from local residents, environmental groups and university students from around the country.
Jiang said in the statement that he has asked the CPA to launch a detailed survey of the ecosystem in the Changhua County wetlands as it seeks to reach a consensus with the local government.
“Since 2007, the ministry has declared more than 82 sites across the country protected wetlands of different degrees, covering as many as 56.8 hectares ... because we recognize that wetlands are an important mechanism in preserving animal species, purifying water, economic production, stabilizing the coastline, as well as in tourism,” Jiang said.
Environmental and ecological groups recommended that the Changhua wetlands be placed on the list of protected wetlands in 2007 and 2008. However, when the CPA published the latest list of wetlands to be protected as natural reserves in January, the Changhua wetlands were not named.
The CPA said at the time that the Changhua wetlands were not listed because the county government was opposed to it, drawing criticism from environmentalists and ecologists who said the Changhua wetlands — the largest remaining coastal wetlands in the country — were “sacrificed” because of the Kuokuang project.
The Changhua wetlands are an important habitat for many endangered bird species and the endangered humpback dolphin, it is also an important production region for farm-raised oysters.
CPA Director-General Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) yesterday said the agency would contact academics and ecological experts to see when it would be convenient for them to attend a meeting before setting a date.
Asked whether he anticipated the county government to again oppose the area being placed on the protected wetland list, he said: “I really cannot say at the moment since we have not talked to the local government yet.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS