Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Activists sue AEC over Taipower tests

Taipei Times

Activists gather in front of the Taipei High Administrative Court yesterday after filing a lawsuit against the Atomic Energy Council for allowing the Taiwan Power Co to conduct heat testing at its dry cask nuclear waste storage facility.
Photo: CNA

A group of antinuclear activists yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Atomic Energy Council for allowing Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) to conduct heat testing at its dry cask nuclear waste storage facility.

Gathering in front of the Taipei High Administrative Court, the activists — joined by several residents living in the nation’s northern coast, where the nation’s first and second operating nuclear power plants are located — shouted slogans such as “Power plants should retire when spent fuel pool is full” and “First confirm the removal schedule or temporary storage will become the final disposal site.”

Academics slam cross-strait regulations

Taipei Times

Academics yesterday criticized a proposed amendment to the Regulations Governing the Approval and Administration of Direct Cross-Strait Sea Transport between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區海運直航許可管理辦法), saying that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration is threatening national security by allowing “all kinds of Chinese ships to navigate freely in the waters around Taiwan.”

The Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) states that no Chinese vessels may enter restricted or prohibited waters in Taiwan’s territory unless permitted by the relevant authorities.

Stickers will not put out the flames

Taipei Times Editorial

Taiwanese in Vietnam found themselves caught up in nationalistic anger this week, lumped together with People’s Republic of China nationals as “Chinese” and targeted because of Beijing’s bullying of its smaller neighbors. The governments of the three nations — Vietnam, Taiwan and China — have been left scrambling to contain the damage and each, in turn, has been left looking awkward and inept as the violence has claimed more than a score of lives.

The catalyst was China’s decision to erect an oil rig on May 2 close to the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) in the South China Sea. The rig was accompanied by a large flotilla of navy vessels and Beijing said that no foreign ships would be allowed within a 4.8km radius of the rig. It was one of the most provocative moves yet by Beijing in its escalation of confrontations over conflicting territorial claims.

Sunflower lessons go wanting: groups

Taipei Times

Civic groups protest outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday against the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) proposed amendment that would make it more difficult for voters to recall legislators.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposal to tighten rules for recalling legislators may face strong resistance from the public, civic groups said yesterday.

“On March 18, hundreds of people broke into the Legislative Yuan complex and took control of the legislative floor for nearly a month because we believed that our representative democracy is not working properly,” said Chen Wei-chen (陳韋辰), a member of the Black Island Nation Youth Front (黑色島國青年聯盟), one of the central groups that took part in the Sunflower movement.

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