Premier Jiang Yi-huah says it’s impossible for the government to unilaterally scrap the ongoing construction of the 4th nuclear power plant. He was speaking on Monday at a press conference following a closed door meeting with opposition leader Su Tseng-chang.
Su is the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). When the DPP was in power, construction on the plant was suspended for more than three months following an order given by then-president Chen Shui-bian in 2000.
Jiang said the suspension of the project had already had a dampening impact on Taiwan.
“Given the controversy over the suspension of the project and the situations that we have observed in other countries, we think the public is extremely concerned about the future of the project," said Jiang.
As to Su’s call for the legislature to pass a special referendum statute to solve the controversy, the premier said the Cabinet will respect the decision of the legislative caucus of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT). Jiang also said he will convey the DPP’s message to President Ma Ying-jeou.