Japan reactor on July 07, 2004

Activists protest reactor Japan reactor

NUCLEAR FALLOUT: Members of a coalition of environmental groups protested the arrival of equipment of for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant
By Chiu Yu-Tzu
STAFF REPORTER

Anti-nuclear activists yesterday protested outside Japan's Interchange Association in Taipei, accusing Japan of exporting "deficient nuclear reactors" to Taiwan.

A reactor pressure vessel arrived in a wharf in Kungliao, Taipei County, several days ago and was scheduled to be handed over to the Taiwan Power Company yesterday and then delivered the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant under construction nearby.

Yesterday morning, dozens of activists from the No Nuke Taiwan Union performed a skit outside the association's Taipei office to oppose Japan's exporting of nuclear reactors to Taiwan. The union is comprised of dozens of local environmental groups formed earlier this year.

Two performers wearing the national flags of Japan and the US trampled on a performer lying on the ground and wrapped in the flag of ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

"Useless government! Allowing others to be trampled on!" activists shouted.

According to Chen Jiau-hua of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU), two reactors that will to be installed at the plant were designed by the US company GE and built by the Japanese firms Hitachi and Mitsubishi.

"The safety of such a reactor type, known as advanced boiling-water reactor, cannot be guaranteed," Chen said.

Activists said that a similar reactor installed at a nuclear power plant in Kashiwazaki, Japan, had resulted in several nuclear accidents.

The activists' demonstration received no response from the association. Aside from the performance the activists gave statement to an office security guard, who promised to pass it onto his managers.

Afterward, activists burned several paper Japanese national flags with anti-nuclear slogans written on them.

Meanwhile, other activists also protested in front of the Fourth Nuclear Plant's construction site yesterday afternoon to show their anger.

Lin Yuan-te, Taipower's deputy manager for the Lungmen Construction Office in Kungliao, told the Taipei Times yesterday the reactor would be unloaded and transferred to the construction site today. Lin said there would be no problem with the transport, and did not anticipate that angry residents or activists would interfere.

Lin said that about 58 percent of the plant project had been completed.

"The progress remains 8 percent behind the original design. The plant's opening date, which was set to be July, 2006, will be postponed," he said.

How long the launch of the plant will be delayed remained uncertain, Lin noted. However, the first reactor will be assembled by the end of this year.

Beijing is showing its real face in Hong Kong

By Liu Kuan-teh

In reaction to the lack of autonomy and democracy under the so-called "one country, two systems" formula, over half a million people in Hong Kong took to the streets on July 1, a march that coincided with the anniversary of the former British colony's return to China. A clear and unified message was sent to the Chinese leadership -- return power to the people, fight for democracy.

This was not the first time that the people have expressed their strong dissatisfaction with the Beijing government. A year ago, a demonstration by 500,000 residents protested China's attempt to impose "national security" laws that would have curtailed basic freedoms of expression and human rights, and dispelled any illusions about Beijing's "one country, two systems."

The recent gathering displayed the growing demand for the Chinese leadership to reexamine the "one country, two systems" formula in relation to Hong Kong. The model was designed originally as tool to brainwash the world that Hong Kong and Taiwan could be unified under the "one China" principle with sustainable autonomy. Now the truth deconstructs the fantasy that democracy would never be sacrificed under authoritarian rule.

What went wrong with the "one country, two systems" illusion? The talk about preserving government structure of Hong Kong -- or Taiwan -- and not appointing local authorities was just that: talk. Hong Kong's Legislative Council attempted to revise the "Electoral Laws on the Chief of the Special Administration Region" two years ago -- and ended up granting the Beijing government the right to dismiss the chief at its own will.

To what extent have Taiwanese people helped bring about the decline of the "one China" myth? The Taiwanese can elect their own president through a democratic process and choose another political party to replace the one they don't like. In Hong Kong, the chief executive needs an imperial order from the Beijing government to rule and he or she can be sacked by Beijing at any time.

What is the implication of the July 1 demonstration on the future democratization of China? The establishment of a liberal democracy in China is unlikely in the foreseeable future. Even though the world anticipated a growing move toward democracy following China's recent political succession, the new leadership, led by President Hu Jintao , is still controlled by the older generation.

While some anticipated a new look in China's new generation of leadership, Hu reiterated the importance of abiding the so-call "Three Represents" of former president Jiang Zemin . It showed no prospect for immediate opening of political democratization.

Can "political incrementalism" become the path for China's democratization? Political reform based on such gradualism will face a great deal of challenges if it does not come up with more economic openness.

As China becomes more incorporated into the world trade regime, economic interdependence may heighten, rather than defuse, political tensions between Beijing and the outside world.

But dependence also means vulnerability. Since China is a country that has suffered from a "century of national humiliation" and is eager to regain it's national pride, its leaders are naturally inclined to "control what they depend on [from abroad] or to lessen the extent of their dependency." This is the real face of today's China. The "one country, two systems" model is just a dead end. The world must deal with a growing, but potentially unstable, China.

Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.

China behind attack: Falun Dafa

SHOOTING: The head of the Taiwanese branch of the organization said the Chinese government was extending its violent repression to foreign soil
By Evelyn Shih
CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

The Chinese government was behind an attack on nine Falun Gong practitioners in South Africa last month, the director of the Taiwanese branch of the organization, Chang Ching-hsi, said yesterday.

"We want to bring these terrorist actions to the attention of the free world," he said at a press conference.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Cho-shui supported Chang's accusations.

"The Chinese authoritarian government has always used violent, repressive measures against its people within the country, but with this incident, they have applied the same atrocious methods on foreign soil," Lin said.

Nine Chinese Falun Gong practitioners from Australia were on their way to protest the arrival of Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong in South Africa on June 28 when they were overtaken by a white van. Several shots were fired from the van at one of their vehicles, Chang said.

Five bullets hit the car, and driver David Liang was shot in both feet. Liang was wearing a vest clearly marked with "Falun Gong" at the time of the shooting, Chang said.

According to South African newspapers, the investigation into the shooting is still in its early stages and it is too early to speculate on motives for the attack.

Chang said that the incident seemed designed to terrorize and could not be a robbery or an assassination attempt.

"By speeding off after the shooting, they proved they were not after money. Furthermore, they did not target individuals, but used a wild spray of bullets," Chang said, adding that the Chinese government should be condemned for its crimes against human rights.

"The Chinese government has a special department within 32 of its embassies worldwide created for the express purpose of undermining the reputation and livelihood of Falun Gong practitioners abroad," said Theresa Chu, the Taiwan spokesperson for the Attorneys' Group for Bringing Jiang [Zemin] to Justice.

The group has brought lawsuits against former Chinese president Jiang and his followers in seven countries, including the US and Taiwan. It is also pursuing lawsuits in the International Criminal Court and lobbying for support from the UN Commission on Human Rights, Chu said.

Lin compared the attack in South Africa to the methods employed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the years after World War II.

"This shooting reminds me in particular of the Jiang Nan Incident [the assassination of the writer Henry Liu]," he said. "It is truly hard to believe that, decades later, another ethnically Chinese government has committed such a similar crime on international soil."

Saying the incident humiliated all Chinese worldwide, Lin stressed the importance of this issue to Taiwan.

"When our government opens negotiations with China, we must address the issue of China's human rights violations. Once we institute direct transportation links with China, we will be in grave danger of similar persecution," he said.

Fellow DPP Legislator Lin Cheng-moh compared the Falun Gong to the I Kuan Tao religion, which was heavily persecuted by the KMT during the Martial Law period.

"But today, I Kuan Tao is everywhere, so I believe the followers of Falun Gong will also triumph in the end," he said.

Japan growing wary of China's military buildup

GETTING BETTER: The PLA has long been a joke as a fighting force but, with new technology and serious training, it might be becoming formidable
REUTERS , Tokyo

China's increasingly high-tech military capabilities need to be watched closely, along with Beijing's marine research near Japan's exclusive economic zone, the Japanese government said in a defense white paper yesterday.

"China is seeking to shift the emphasis in its military forces from `quantity' to `quality,' moving to a position where it will have a nucleus of regular forces capable of coping with modern warfare," the annual report said.

"China has been modernizing its nuclear and missile forces as well as its naval and air forces. Careful deliberation should go into determining whether the objective of this modernization exceeds the scope necessary for the defense of China, and future developments in this area merit special attention," it added.

Japan has repeatedly expressed concern about China's marine research near waters Tokyo says are its exclusive economic zone.

Diplomatic sparring between the two Asian neighbors over an island group in the East China Sea -- known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China -- flared up in March, when Japan arrested and detained seven Chinese who had landed on one.

The report -- which comes as Japan's military marks the 50th anniversary of its postwar restructuring -- reiterated that North Korea's missile and nuclear programs posed a security threat.

Outlining Japan's plans to introduce a missile defense system, the report said Tokyo might need to review its decades-old self-imposed ban on weapons exports as the result of technical research with the United States in that area.

Japan's military is undergoing the most sweeping review of its forces in five decades to cope with new threats and a report is due out later this year.

Japan needed to develop effective responses to such threats, re-examine traditional notions on infrastructure and equipment, and seek to modify the scale of its forces while bearing in mind the capabilities needed to meet a full-scale invasion, the white paper said.

On North Korea, the report noted efforts by the US, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programs, including a uranium enrichment programme which the North has denied exists.

Analysts have said a door creaked open at talks in Beijing last month, with the first real sign of negotiations after Washington offered security guarantees and South Korea aid if Pyongyang agreed to dismantle its nuclear programs.

The report said North Korea was a threat not just to Japan.

"Taken together with its suspected nuclear weapons program, North Korea's development and deployment of ballistic missiles constitute a destabilizing factor for the international community as a whole and have generated intense anxiety," the paper said.

In 1998 North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan, prompting Tokyo to improve its missile defense and intelligence gathering capabilities, leading to the launch last year of its first two spy satellites.