Tao Aborigines from Orchid Island (蘭嶼) yesterday protested on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei, saying radioactive material was leaking from a nuclear waste dump on the island. They demanded that the storage facility be removed.
“Survival is the only reason why we are here; we’re here for the survival of generations to come,” Tao Cultural Development Association chairman Syaman Raus told a crowd standing in the rain.
“A nuclear leak has occurred. The water, the soil, the animals and vegetation on the island have been contaminated. We live on a small island with very limited arable land and resources. How can we live?” he asked.
Photo: CNA
“Taiwan Power Co [Taipower] said there’s no problem. It’s all lies,” he said.
Although residents of Orchid Island — also known as Lanyu or Pongso no Tao, “Island of the People” in the Tao language — have long suspected that a radioactive leak has occurred, it was first officially confirmed when Academia Sinica research fellow Huh Chih-an (扈治安) detected radioactivity on the island after being commissioned by Taipower at the end of last month.
Taipower at the time argued that the amount of radioactive material detected was minimal and could not be considered a leak.
It said that only a few rust-eaten barrels storing nuclear waste had holes in them and that the company was checking the condition of all the barrels.
Orchid Island is home to the country’s only nuclear waste storage facility, which was completed in 1982 to serve the nuclear power plants on Taiwan proper.
Individual researchers detected unusual amounts of cesium-137 and cobalt-37 in soil from farmland on the island about a decade ago.
Both are elements found in nuclear waste.
Despite the rain, dozens of people from the island stood on the boulevard, wearing traditional outfits and holding banners calling for an end to nuclear waste storage on Lanyu.
“The Republic of China [ROC] government is a killer government,” said Syaman Ngarayu, a preacher at a local church.
“We Taos are such a small people and the ROC is contaminating our water and our soil, they’re killing us with nuclear waste,” he said.
Syaman Rapongan, a writer and native of Lanyu, read a protest poem that he wrote.
“Wild savages, here’s your breakfast,” he read. “Cobalt-60 is for the men, cesium-137 is for the women. As for the kids, extinction is your breakfast.”
After reading the poem, Syaman Rapongan accused the government of deceiving the Tao.
He said that since the ROC government took over Orchid Island the quality of life has been deteriorating.
“In 1980, you [the ROC government] said that you would build a manufacturing factory for canned fish for us. However, it turned out that this ‘factory’ is a nuclear storage facility,” Syaman Rapongan said.
“We’ve been searching for happiness, but since our encounter, the ROC government brings us only threats to our survival,” he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it