Does the DPP Still Want to Pretend to Be Asleep Amid New Pro-Nuclear Public Opinion?

  Does the DPP Still Want to Pretend to Be Asleep Amid New Pro-Nuclear Public Opinion?

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

September 18, 2018

 Translation of an Excerpt

Following two years of twists and turns, the DPP’s "nuclear-free homeland" policy has begun to be questioned by the public. The plebiscite proposal titled "using nuclear to nurture green power" broke through the bar of 300,000 endorsements; several surveys have also shown a new public opinion indicating that a majority of the people support the use of nuclear power. At the same time, Facebook has announced its decision to change the site of its first data center in Asia from Changhua to Singapore, an investment of more than US$1 billion. Liu Yu-ping, director of the Construction Department of Changhua County, believes that electricity rates is the main reason why Changhua lost the competition.

Since the DPP’s second time in power, the “superlative” new energy source policy, after all, has not undergone in-depth, professional assessment; once suddenly activated, risky scenes have been exposed, whether it was the power rationing caused by the collapse of Heping Power Plant’s electricity tower, the worsening air pollution caused by the full-capacity generation of coal-fired power plants during the annual maintenance of nuclear power plants, or the incident of the "August 15^th Great Power Outage, " the below normal operating reserve rate caused the frequent tripping of power circuits, rising electricity rates, and insufficient power supply, compelled the restart of nuclear reactors in Nuclear Power Plant No. 2, etc., the public have witnessed that President Tsai’s commitment during her election campaign of “ absolutely no power shortages, no hiking of electricity rates” becoming “full control of government, total bouncing of checks.”

Viewed more concretely from the poll data, the survey conducted by Global Views magazine last April indicates that under the premise of crises over power shortages and power rationing, 54.7% of the people agreed to de-mothball Nuclear Power Plant No. 4, while 37.4% don’t agree. Among young people, 70% support nuclear power generation. Last month, the survey conducted by "Taiwan indicators opinion poll" shows that for the Tsai government's "nuclear-free homeland" policy, 49% of people do not support it, while those who support a nuclear-free homeland has dropped to 36.6%; in terms of age, the ratio of those who do not support a nuclear-free homeland has reached as high as 60% among the younger generations.

In contrast, a survey conducted by the same Taiwan indicators in June 2016, 58% of the people still identified with supporting a nuclear-free homeland, then it has slid down all the way, dropping to 43% in May, and 36% in August. Conversely, the ratio of not identifying with the "nuclear-free homeland goal" has been gradually increasing, from 28.8% to 42%, and then this time to 49%, nearly a majority.

Since the Tsai government came to office, believing that it has a "new vox populi," it has, in total disregard of everything, ignored professionalism, obstinately pushing for its energy policies. When facing professional criticism and questioning, and even when myriad problems popped up, it has always used the cliché "a nuclear-free homeland is the consensus of all people" to deflect criticism. However, the new vox populi is that the number of people who support nuclear power has increased and has overtaken the ratio supporting a nuclear-free homeland. Shouldn’t the Tsai government, based on the true "new vox populi," make adjustments with regard to its energy policies?

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