Taiwan’s cabinet decided against holding a referendum on the fate of the planned Lungmen reactors. This decision was taken “to avoid polarising the island’s divided public opinion on the issue.” Chiou I-Jen, secretary general of the cabinet, said that premier Chang Chun-Hsiung had decided not to hold the referendum “not for the sake of economic or other reasons, but mainly because the sense of uncertainty will be beyond our control.” Chang of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) halted construction last October without consulting parliament, which infuriated business and the opposition parties. The DPP was forced to restart the project earlier this year, which angered environmentalists who form part of DPP’s core support.
