The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday appealed to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers ahead of today’s scheduled vote on proposals about the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, asking them to break party ranks and support the suspension of the controversial plant.
DPP and KMT lawmakers are expected to launch motions today to have their proposals — the DPP’s wants construction of plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮) suspended immediately, while the KMT wants a national referendum on the issue — discussed in the legislature’s plenary session.
Both initiatives are expected to be put to a vote today.
If the KMT proposal passes, a national referendum will be held asking: “Do you agree that construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be halted and that it not become operational (你是否同意核四廠停止興建不得運轉)?”
DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said yesterday that the party hoped the 14 KMT lawmakers representing Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung, who have yet to announce their position on the issue, would side with the DPP on calling for an immediate halt to construction.
The 14 are Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), Alex Tsai (蔡正元), Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛), Alex Fai (費鴻泰), Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), Huang Chih-hsiung (黃志雄), Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才), Chiang Hui-chen (江惠貞), Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠), Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池), Lin Te-fu (林德福) and Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑).
Anti-nuclear civic groups plan to stage a protest today to “besiege” the legislature to pressure those lawmakers in favor of the plant.
“People are watching,” Lin Chun-hsien said, calling for KMT lawmakers to side with mainstream public opinion.
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Thomas Lee (李桐豪) appealed to the KMT not to ram the referendum proposal by using the “tyranny of majority.”
Thomas Lee reiterated his party’s position that lawmakers should wait for the assessment on the plant’s safety to be completed before deciding whether it should be allowed to begin commercial operations.
A plebiscite on the issue should not be held before safe operation of the plant is guaranteed and the legislature does its share, he said.
However, KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said his party would severely discipline party members who vote against the party line.
KMT lawmakers voting for the DPP’s proposal or against the KMT’s proposal would be viewed as a grave infraction, Lai said.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) criticized Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), the operator of the nation’s nuclear power plants, for providing inconsistent lists of its 45-member safety review panel and its refusal to provide a list of the 12 consultants from US-based General Electricity Co.
Taipower’s actions showed it had no intention of meeting the public’s demand that information about the nuclear power plants be transparent, he said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS