Before the next president enters office, construction at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be stopped, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) told a press conference on Sunday.
“I am prepared to launch the ‘Save Earth, Save Taiwan Association,’” Lu said, adding that there would be a free showing of the Taiwanese folk opera Peng Lai Da Xian (蓬萊大仙), performed by the Ming Hwa Yuan Arts and Cultural Group on Friday in front of National Taipei University.
The show would seek to give greater exposure to the “Save Earth, Save Taiwan” movement, Lu said.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
“My current goal is to move toward shutting down the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant before the next president is voted into office,” Lu said, adding that Taiwan was capable of developing its industries without nuclear power.
In tandem with pan-green civil servants and other environmental protection personnel, Lu is pushing for a referendum petition on the closing down of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市).
Lu said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should adopt a clear stance on the issue.
“I will definitely pay Ma a visit to discuss the subject of a referendum on halting the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant,” Lu said.
Responding to claims that any such visit would be intended to force to clarify his stance on the matter, Lu said Ma happened to be the person who had the most say, adding that she hoped to visit other influential people once she had gathered enough support.
Lu said she hoped the referendum would be held only in New Taipei City, adding that only by halting the project would Taiwan be saved.
Kao Cheng-yan (高成炎), an academic working with Lu, said a petition drive for the referendum was being held at the Rueifang Railway Station.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union also expressed its willingness to participate in the petition.
Lu said the Formosa Weekly that she publishes would cease to print for a year so that she could focus on the campaign.
Asked if Lu was suspending the publication because it is losing money, Lu said almost everyone who started magazines lose money.
“I’ve sold everything under my name, but I feel proud, because I’ve done all I could,” Lu said, adding that the Save Earth, Save Taiwan movement also required money.
“I’m always involved in non-profitable things,” Lu said.
New Taipei City Council DPP caucus convener Chen Shih-jung (陳世榮) said that since New Taipei City had no legal mechanisms for the holding of referendums, the caucus would seek cross-party petitions and propose a draft New Taipei City residents voting self-regulation rule.
DPP New Taipei City Councilor Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) said that as the proposal was already supported by more than half the municipality’s councilors, the council should be able to review the matter when it convenes today.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS