Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) is required to report to the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense committee on Thursday after his remarks about Japan’s plan to discharge water from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant sparked controversy, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Liao Wan-ju (廖婉汝) said yesterday.
Japan on April 13 announced that it plans to release treated water containing tritium from the wrecked nuclear plant into the ocean, despite protests from neighboring countries.
While he lodged a protest to Tokyo on behalf of the government, he cannot ignore that Taiwan discharges water from three nuclear power plants into the ocean, Hsieh wrote on Wednesday last week.
Taiwan discharges wastewater according to normal standards, which is entirely different from the situation at the Japanese plant, Atomic Energy Council (AEC) Minister Hsieh Shou-shing (謝曉星) told a legislative session on Wednesday, adding that Frank Hsieh is not an expert on the issue.
The KMT on Thursday reported to the National Policy Agency that it suspects Frank Hsieh of spreading disinformation.
Due to Frank Hsieh’s remarks, he would be required on Thursday to report to the committee regarding the development and prospects of Taiwan-Japan relations, said Liao, who is the committee’s convener.
The committee originally had other plans for that day, but changed the agenda because of Frank Hsieh, Liao said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and officials from the AEC, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan Power Co, the Ocean Affairs Council and the Council of Agriculture are also required to attend the meeting, the agenda shows.
Instead of speaking for Taiwan’s fisheries, the representative chose to defend Japan’s decision and even criticized his own country, which is totally unacceptable, Liao said, asking: “Does Frank Hsieh represent Taiwan or Japan?”
While Taiwan hopes to improve relations with Japan and the US, it should be done on the basis of democracy, freedom and defense assistance, rather than through such means as Frank Hsieh employed, she said.
He should attend Thursday’s meeting in person, Liao said, adding that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he should follow travel protocols that foreign visitors in business or diplomatic “bubbles” face.
Taiwan People’s Party caucus deputy convener Ann Kao (高虹安) said that her caucus also demands that Frank Hsieh attend the committee session, even if that means a videoconference while he is in quarantine.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
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The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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