Christians in Taiwan join others in rally against nuclear energy expansion

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

3082 Edition

March 21~27, 2011

Headline News



Christians in Taiwan join others in rally against nuclear energy expansion



Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

Written by Lydia Ma



In the wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan following the disastrous earthquake 
and tsunami, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) staged a rally on 
March 20, 2011, in downtown Taipei to demand a halt to policies geared at 
expanding the use of nuclear energy and building reactors plants in Taiwan.

TEPU issued a statement claiming that past national policies restraining the 
use of nuclear energy had been severely eroded in recent years. Not only were 
antiquated nuclear power plants (NPP) still in operation, safety regulations 
were continually glossed over. Taiwan currently has 4 nuclear power plants - 
NPP1, NPP2, NPP3, NPP4.

The rally began at 2:30 p.m. after former PCT General Secretary William J.K. Lo 
led everyone in a brief prayer. Protesters started their march at the side 
entrance of National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and ended their march at the 
front steps of the Legislative Yuan.

Participants underscored their concern and opposition to continuing operations 
at nuclear facilities No.1, No.2, and No.3 and demanded a halt to building new 
nuclear facilities. They also requested an investigation on nuclear facility 
No.4 as there had been allegations of corruption and concerns that the facility 
was built on land vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis. If these allegations 
are confirmed, protesters said they’d demand an immediate halt to the building 
of NPP4.

Participants also demanded that emergency procedures be established instantly 
at all NPPs to guarantee the nation’s safety in the event of an accident. 
Otherwise, all facilities needed to be closed and disbanded.

Christians were a visible group among those at the rally. “The government 
cannot govern with a gambling mindset,” said Tang Feng-cheng, a member from 
Shihlin Bread of Life Church, adding that the Ma administration shouldn’t put 
people’s lives and properties on the line, but that was precisely what it was 
doing with such lax nuclear energy policies.

PCT Church and Society Secretary Huang Che-yen, who had returned from Japan a 
few days ago was also among the crowd. He underscored that, if nuclear 
disasters could happen to a country as progressive and careful as Japan, where 
information on nuclear safety is transparent and publicly accessible, it would 
be foolish to think that Taiwan would do better, because information is less 
transparent and the existence and enforcement of nuclear safety regulations are 
a mystery to the public.

Former Premier Chang Chun-hsiung said he’d opposed nuclear energy and NPP4 ten 
years ago when he was premier and his position hasn’t changed since. Worried 
about Taiwan’s prospects if a nuclear accident should happen here, he urged 
Christians to pray for Taiwan’s environment and stop using nuclear energy to 
generate power.

Chang underscored that Taiwan has a high population density compared to other 
countries with nuclear energy. “Unless God has great mercy on Taiwan, we’ll all 
be as good as dead in case of a nuclear accident!” he said, adding that EU, US, 
and Japan all have stricter regulations concerning nuclear energy though their 
population density is smaller than Taiwan’s.

 

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