A group of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday said they supported Changhua County Commissioner Wei Ming-ku’s (魏明谷) compliance with regulations and urged Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp not to use workers’ demands to force the county government into skirting the law.
A group of company employees over the past week has staged protests in front of the Changhua County government building and clashed with police, expressing anger over county authorities’ refusal to issue an operating permit for the plant’s three power generators by a Sept. 28 deadline. Without the renewed permits, the plant is expected to completely shut down, which would leave the workers out of work.
At a news conference in Taipei, DPP legislators Chen Su-yueh (陳素月), Hung Chun-yi (洪宗熠) and Huang Hsiu-fang (黃秀芳) expressed support for Wei, who is also a DPP member.
Chen called on the workers not to “act mistakenly,” adding that the permits were revoked over noncompliance with environmental protection standards.
The plant should reapply for new permits as soon as possible and not waste time protesting, she said.
Chen said that regardless of how the permits were obtained five years ago, the plant must be socially responsible now and obtain a permit with proper inspection of the facilities by the county government’s Environmental Protection Bureau.
The company cannot cover up breaches of the regulations by saying it is trying to create job opportunities, Huang said, adding that while the county is acting according to law, the company is trying to solve the issue through appeal.
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre should take responsibility and seek to settle the issue for workers, Huang said, adding that she hopes the company and senior workers would take the issue seriously.
Hung said the company’s permit applications have already been rejected 37 times.
Hung said it has been revealed that Cho Po-chung (卓伯仲), brother of former Changhua county commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源), had sought funding from the company’s then-vice chairman Hong Fu-yuan (洪福源) for 1 million bags with poetry written on them at a total value of NT$370 million (US$11.7 million).
“Do not think you can simply give financial support to the government and have it turn a blind eye to illegal activity,” Hung said to Hong.
Hung said that the problems would not exist if the company simply obtained the permits for the boilers via correct procedures, but the company has so far failed to do so.
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
ENROLLMENT STRATEGIES: NTNU focuses on English instruction to attract foreign students, and helps them with employment and internships, its president said The number of foreign students in the nation’s colleges and universities hit a five-year high last year, with National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) topping the list with the most international students, Ministry of Education data showed. Last year, 123,188 international students attended Taiwanese colleges and universities, 3,259 more than the previous academic year, the data showed. NTNU had the most international students, with 7,648 students, followed by the National Taiwan University’s 6,249, it showed. NTNU yesterday said that international students accounted for 12.05 percent of its degree students last year. The percentage of overseas Chinese students at the university has also been the highest
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS