Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin Yi-xiong (林義雄) yesterday began a hunger strike at Taipei’s Gikong Presbyterian Church to demand that the government halt the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), saying that the President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration’s pledge that the plant would be safe was “a trick to fool the public.”

“So-called nuclear safety is questionable because even if the plant was completed and became operational, unassailable damage could still take place in the event of a natural disaster or human error,” Lin said.