Hundreds of Tao Aborigines living on Lanyu (蘭嶼), also known as Orchid Island, yesterday held a protest outside the Lanyu nuclear waste storage facility, calling on Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) to remove nuclear waste from the island as soon as possible.

Clenching their fists as they stared straight ahead with angry faces and shouted in low-pitched voices, the Tao, in traditional dress, performed a ritual to drive away evil spirits near Longmen Harbor, the debarking point for nuclear waste from Taiwan proper and where yesterday’s march against the storage of nuclear waste on the island began.