Voters across Taiwan will cast their ballots in four referendums Dec. 18 that could have a direct impact on the country's pork imports, energy policies, and future referendum arrangements.
With the vote taking place in two days, CNA lays out the motives of individuals and civil society groups for initiating the four referendums, as well as rebuttals from the government, which is campaigning for a "no" vote in all four of the plebiscites.
R17: "Do you agree that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be unsealed and operated commercially to generate electricity?"
Background: Protests by civil society groups against the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant have lasted for over two decades since construction on the currently mothballed plant in New Taipei City's Gongliao District began in 1999.
In 2014 and with construction nearing completion, President Ma Ying-jeou (???) of the Kuomintang suspended work on the plant due to public concern over its safety.
President Tsai Ing-wen (???) of the Democratic Progressive Party took office in 2016, after campaigning on a promise to phase out the nuclear power plants in the country by 2025.
In 2018, however, a referendum initiated by nuclear advocate Huang Shih-hsiu (???) to keep nuclear power in the country's energy mix was passed in a 5,895,560 to 4,014,215 vote.
Vote "Yes" referendum initiator Huang Shih-hsiu (???) has argued:
1. The mainstream of Taiwanese society has rejected the government's plan to phase out nuclear power through the passage of the referendum in 2018.
2. Locals at Gongliao District have expressed support for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant entering commercial operation, which they believe will bring about prosperity and development to the area.
(Fact-checking/more information) According to Huang's referendum proposal, the argument was based on a letter to the editor published by the Storm Media in 2017, in which former Gongliao resident Huang Feng-lin (???) wrote that she supported the power plant and that protests against it had led to the decline of the district, without providing specifics.
3. Concern about the handling of nuclear waste is a red herring, as 97 percent of spent nuclear fuel can be reprocessed.
(Fact-checking/more information) Spent nuclear fuel contains radioactive waste, but it also contains uranium and plutonium that can be reprocessed and reused as fuel in reactors. However, a reprocessing plant is currently not available in Taiwan and studies have so far shown that such practice is more costly than the direct disposal of spent fuel.
4. Unsealing the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant will not take six years, and the fuel rods that Taiwan has sent back to the manufacturer over the past three years can be retrieved.
5. The fault identified by geologists to be running under the power plant is not a capable fault, and the nearest active fault is located 35 kilometers from the plant site.
(Fact-checking/more information) According to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a capable fault is characterized by its movement at or near the ground surface at least once within the past 35,000 years or movement of a recurring nature within the past 500,000 years. An active fault is one that is likely to become the source of another earthquake sometime in the future.
6. Compared to the now-defunct coal-fired Shen'ao Power Plant in Ruifang District of New Taipei, the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant would provide cheaper, cleaner, and safer energy.
The government has urged the public to vote "No" based on the following reasons:
1. There has been a lack of consensus in Taiwan on how to deal with nuclear waste.
(Fact-checking/more information) Currently, both high- and low-level radioactive waste is being stored in the three nuclear power plants in New Taipei and Pingtung County, according to the Atomic Energy Council (AEC). A storage site on Orchid Island had taken in low-level radioactive waste from the three power plants as well as research labs from 1982 to 1996.
2. By the time the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) had mothballed the power plant, it had yet to pass 32 of the 187 safety and other tests required by the AEC for the plant's formal operation.
3. It is estimated that it will take the government six to seven years to complete the construction of the power plant and start operating the plant commercially. Before this can be done, the government also needs to tackle several challenges such as renegotiating its contract with the designer of the plant's reactors, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), and reassessing the geological safety of the plant site.
4. The government has planned to incrementally increase the share of alternative energy and natural gas in the country's energy mix as part of its goal to supply stable electricity while reducing its reliance on coal.
(Fact-checking/more information) Taiwan's reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity has increased from 80.64 percent in 2015, the year before Tsai took office, to 82.19 percent in 2020, according to Bureau of Energy data. Coal-fired plants accounted for 44.95 percent of Taiwan's electricity mix, down slightly from 45.39 percent in 2015. Renewables have risen to 5.47 percent of the total, from 4.06 percent in 2015.
R18: "Do you agree that the government should prohibit imports of pork, offal, or other related products that contain the ß-agonist, ractopamine?"
Background: Taiwan allowed the import of pork products containing the controversial livestock drug ractopamine starting 2021, while the use of the drug, which enables animals to grow larger and leaner, on pigs remains banned in the country.
The government has justified its policy by saying that it set permissible ractopamine residue levels (MRLs) for imported pork as per international standards, although public concern has persisted.
Vote "Yes" referendum initiator and Kuomintang Legislator Lin Wei-chou (???) has argued:
1. There has been a lack of scientific research on whether long-term ingestion of ractopamine residues will have an impact on human bodies.
2. The consumption of pork products in Taiwan is far higher than that of beef and other meat, and the government should take that into consideration in addition to abiding by international standards.
(Fact-checking/more information) According to Council of Agriculture data, approximately 900,000 metric tons of pork products have been consumed in Taiwan on an annual basis over the past decade. At the same time, the annual consumption of beef products on the island has risen from 114,550 metric tons in 2011 to 171,970 metric tons in 2020.
3. Customs inspections are not comprehensive so not all shipments of pork products containing excess levels of the feed additive will be stopped at the border.
4. The government made a decision to allow for pork imports with ractopamine, bypassing the Legislature.
(Fact-checking/more information) The Council of Agriculture issued a directive in September 2020 to allow for pork imports with ractopamine according to the Veterinary Drugs Control Act. The directive was taken note of by the Legislature, where the ruling DPP holds a majority, later the same year -- despite protests from opposition parties.
5. The health of the nation's people cannot be exchanged for trade benefits.
The government has urged the public to vote "No" based on the following reasons:
1. Some 101 countries around the world have approved the import of pork products containing ractopamine. Taiwan cannot disregard international trade norms.
2. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) releases information on pork imports on a daily basis.
3. The labeling of origin is required of all pork products, and the government has implemented measures to encourage people to buy Taiwanese pork products.
4. The government has set MRLs for pork products with ractopamine in accordance with relevant regulations, international standards, and scientific risk assessments.
R19: "Do you agree that a referendum should be held concurrently with a national election if it complies with the Referendum Act and if the election is scheduled to take place within six months of the referendum being approved?"
Background: In 2019, the legislature, where the ruling DPP held a majority at the time, passed an amendment to the Referendum Act that prevents referendums from being held on the same day as national elections beginning 2021.
Under the current law, any qualifying referendums are to be held once every two years on the fourth Saturday of August. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the CEC in July decided to delay this year's votes to Dec. 18.
Vote "Yes" referendum initiator and KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (???) has argued:
1. Holding referendums concurrently as national elections will boost turnout.
2. Same-day elections will significantly lower administrative costs. It is estimated that organizing a referendum separately from a national election costs taxpayers roughly NT$857 million. However, if a referendum is held concurrently with a national election, the cost for the referendum alone would be brought down to NT$145 million.
3. Same-day elections will spur more discussions on referendum questions.
The government has urged the public to vote "No" based on the following reasons:
1. The CEC was overwhelmed in November 2018 when a total of 10 referendums took place the same day as local elections, partly due to a lack of preparation time. The amendment passed in 2019 is meant to address such problems.
2. Separating referendums from national elections will prevent the former from being overshadowed by party competition.
3. Holding referendums separately from other elections makes it easier for the CEC to organize and for voters to participate.
4. Holding referendums and national elections separately is a common practice in advanced democratic countries.
R20: "Do you agree that CPC Corp.'s planned site for Taiwan's third liquefied natural gas terminal should be relocated from an algal reef off the coast of Datan, Taoyuan, and its adjacent waters?"
Background: The state-run CPC Corp. commenced construction of Taiwan's third liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in November 2019. The terminal will be used for storing and processing imported natural gas that can then be piped to the nearby Datan Power Plant for use in generating electricity. However, the project has been met with strong opposition from environmental groups that fear it would bring serious harm to the algae reef.
Vote "Yes" referendum initiator Pan Chong-cheng (???), convener of the Algae Reef Reservation Alliance, has argued:
1. The algae reef along the coast of Datan took at least 7,000 years to form and is the largest of its kind in the world. The reef can help curb global warming.
2. LNG carriers from overseas are likely to experience difficulty docking at the LNG terminal due to choppy waters there, which could subsequently disrupt the supply of natural gas.
3. The LNG terminal is near four industrial parks and therefore any accidents occurring at the terminal could affect operations for businesses in these parks.
(Fact-checking/more information) The furthest away industrial park identified by Pan, is located eight kilometers from the terminal and the closest one is located about one km from the terminal.
4. The algae reef is a natural defense that can keep large-volume military ships at bay.
5. The LNG terminal is adjacent to the Guanxin algae reef, which has been designated as a protected "wildlife refuge" according to the Wildlife Conservation Act. The construction will inevitably put species there at risk.
The government has urged the public to vote "No" based on the following reasons:
1. It will take 11 to 13 years to relocate the LNG terminal to the alternative site covering piers N7-N9 at the Port of Taipei in New Taipei as proposed by environmental groups.
2. CPC Corp. will closely monitor the algae reef coast of Datan and is committed to protecting the area.
3. Algae reefs are far less effective in providing a defense than breakwaters.
4. There has never been an instance of a tank exploding at a LNG receiving terminal with the same design anywhere in the world.
5. CPC Corp. has acquired the authorities' permission to construct the LNG terminal.
(Fact-checking/more information) A revision to the plans for the LNG terminal was made by the government in May shortly after a motion initiated for a referendum to put the project to a halt was approved by the CEC. The revised plan, which would move part of the construction some 455 meters further away to 1.2 kilometers from the coast, is undergoing an environmental assessment because of the changes made.
What will happen if a referendum is passed?
1. For the referendum on future referendum arrangements (R19)
The Cabinet is required to propose a draft amendment in accordance with the referendum result and submit it to the Legislature for review within three months after the vote. The Legislature should complete legislation by the end of the next legislative term.
2. For the other three referendums (R17, R18, R20)
The president or competent authorities should adopt necessary measures in compliance with the referendum results.
What if a referendum fails to pass?
The same referendum question cannot be proposed again in the next two years.
What does it take to pass a referendum?
Under the Referendum Act, a referendum is passed when the number of "yes " votes surpasses that of "no" votes and that those who vote "yes" account for more than one-quarter of all eligible voters, which refers to any Taiwanese national aged 18 and above.
According to the Central Election Commission, there are 19,825,468 eligible voters in the Dec. 18 referendum, which means that any of the four referendums will be passed if the "yes" votes outnumber the "no" votes and exceed 4,956,367 votes.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel