About 100 academics yesterday staged a silent march from Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building to Gikong Presbyterian Church, where former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) has been on a hunger strike since Tuesday, to urge the government to give up nuclear energy.
“Nuclear power is the most negative product of capitalism and imperialism, it’s a disaster for the disadvantaged,” said Cheng Fei-wen (鄭斐文), an associate professor of sociology at Tung Hai University.
“When nuclear disaster occurs, it is the poor, the aged and children who will suffer the most. Even today, the Tao people on Orchid Island still suffer from nuclear waste storage,” he added.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
National Chung Cheng University professor Chen Ruey-lin (陳瑞麟) said Taiwan was located in the so-called “Ring of Fire,” where frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean.
“I don’t think Taiwan is qualified to use nuclear energy,” he added.
Nuclear disasters have occurred in many countries with advanced nuclear technology, such as the former Soviet Union, the US and Japan, Chen said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“It’s difficult for the government to convince us that we can do better than those countries,” the professor added.
“Nuclear disasters take different forms each time they happen. We cannot foresee them coming and there’s no way we can implement a preventive measure that would be 100 percent safe,” Chen said. “This is why I think we shouldn’t take the risk at all.”
Taiwan Association of University Professors president Lu Chung-chin (呂忠津), who teaches electrical engineering at National Tsing Hua University, said the government should not continue to threaten the public by saying that there may be a power shortage without the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
“It would be better if the government could use this critical time to develop a green energy system for our future,” he said.
The group marched in silence to the church after tying yellow ribbons with the slogan: “Stop the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant; return the power to the people” on police barricades that barred them from getting close to the Presidential Office Building.
Separately yesterday, another group of antinuclear activists urged the government to respond positively to Lin’s demands, otherwise, Taiwan Society North chairman Chang Yeh-shen (張葉森) said, “the moment that Lin collapses will be the moment the revolution starts.”
Meanwhile, in an effort to force legislators to take a stance, Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan convener Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴) yesterday afternoon called on supporters to blockade every exit of the Legislative Yuan in a bid to prevent legislators and governmental vehicles from leaving the premises.
The action caused clashes between security and the protesters.
In the midst of the scuffles, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) was filmed ordering his chauffeur to drive off the premises, while two protesters were clinging to the hood of his car.
Video footage was uploaded by an individual who was severely critical of Tsai, labeling his order to drive away to be as heinous as an act of hit and run.
Tsai responded on Facebook by branding the gathered groups “rioters” who used clubs to crack car windshields.
The “rioters” climbed on to the hood of his car and initiated violence by hammering the vehicle, he added.
Additional reporting by Tseng Wei-chen
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS