Environmental groups have held a protest outside of the Cabinet, criticizing the central government for disregarding the local government’s autonomous power. The Tuesday protests came after the Cabinet revoked Keelung’s approval of a local referendum on building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the city's northern coast.
Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) says energy issues should be determined by a nation-wide referendum, not a local referendum. The Central Election Commission says the city can instead offer guidelines to move the referendum to a national level.
The referendum comes as Taiwan’s power company Taipower and environmental groups fail to reach a consensus on the LNG terminal’s impact. Taipower says the LNG terminal will reduce the air pollution by half while maintaining a sufficient energy supply. Environmental groups disagree and say the terminal will damage local ecosystems.
Keelung approved the environmental groups’ local referendum proposal in March to decide on the issue. The Cabinet says the referendum is unconstitutional, and it asked the local government to halt further progress.
Keelung will file an administrative appeal against the central government’s decision.