A number of netizens yesterday responded to an online call to rally in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in Taipei this afternoon to protest against several development projects that are to threaten the endangered leopard cats of Miaoli County.
The call was initiated by the Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Taiwan SPCA) on Facebook.
The Taiwan SPCA said the endangered leopard cats — with a population estimated to be less than 500 in Taiwan — are facing a survival threat, because their important habitat in Miaoli’s Sanyi Township (三義) would likely be damaged by planned development projects, including a bypass road for Provincial Highway No. 13, a cemetery and a park, and the expansion of Yulon Motor Co’s plant in the area.
As an environmental impact assessment (EIA) meeting is scheduled to be held this afternoon at the EPA to review the bypass project, the group called for the public to help save the leopard cats by attending a “pass by” protest today, and also by writing letters to EPA Minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥) to express their opposition to the road development.
The term “pass by” is an allusion to a statement made by the Taipei City Police Department earlier this month when it said an unauthorized rally held by former gang leader Chang An-le (張安樂) in support of the cross-strait service trade agreement was legal, because the demonstrators had been merely “passing by.”
According to the Taiwan SPCA, the road would cut through the species’ most important habitat, causing the leopard cat population to be split in two in two separate areas. This would cause the cats’ natural reproduction to become even more difficult, because studies have shown that leopard cats do not like asphalt roads, so they seldom cross a road and when they do, they often get killed by vehicles.
The road project’s previous report to the EIA did not even mention the species and the county government only recently mentioned a plan to buy another piece of land for the cats to live in, the Taiwan SPCA said, but whether the cats will move to the new area is not known.
The organization added that the estimated cost of the 8km bypass is about NT$5.2 billion (US$175.2 million), which is more expensive than the average price per kilometer paid for the Sun Yat-sen Freeway (Freeway No. 1), but the road is actually unnecessary because traffic congestion only occurs on a few peak periods on weekends or holidays.
The EPA said it would allow only 20 representatives from both sides of the road construction project to participate in the EIA meeting this afternoon.
‘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 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
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
RSS