The Southern Taiwan Nuclear Abolishment Action Alliance yesterday launched an anti-nuclear campaign by handing out red envelopes with nuclear power-related information printed on a piece of paper that resembles a NT$500 bill at night markets, major train stations and other crowded locations in Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Tainan.
The alliance, consisting of several civic groups, invited more than a hundred volunteers to take part in the distribution of the red envelopes to pedestrians at busy and crowded public spaces such as Sanfeng Central Street (三鳳中街), a popular shopping area of sundry goods, Shiinkuchan Commercial Zone (新崛江商圈) in Kaohsiung and Huayuan Night Market (花園夜市), Tainan’s largest night market.
The alliance said that although the government and Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) have stressed that electricity generated by nuclear power is relatively cheap, with a cost of NT$0.6 per kilowatt-hour, information about how much has been spent on the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), and how much money would be needed for maintenance, nuclear waste treatment and plant retirement are on the whole kept hidden from the public.
Research has shown the risks that having a fault line near the plant in southern Taiwan pose and the yet-to-be-completed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant has seen several construction problems that the group said.
“If the legislature rejects Taipower’s proposal for an additional budget for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, it can save more than NT$50 billion [US$1.7 million], the equivalent of four red envelopes containing NT$500 for every person in Taiwan, and also abolish the plant,” said Joan Tsai (蔡卉荀), a researcher at Citizens of the Earth, Taiwan.
Chen Yu-chi (陳郁琦), executive secretary of Taiwan Association for Human Rights’ southern office, added: “We hope everyone can live a life free from the fear of nuclear disaster and that everybody could spend more time loving the land that nourishes us, rather than praying that nuclear disaster does not happen.”
Information printed on the fake NT$500 bill called on the public to take part in an anti-nuclear parade that is to take place on March 9 at the Aozihdi Forest Park (凹仔底森林公園) in Greater Kaohsiung.
‘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
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
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
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and