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Lin Yi-hsiung, in Taiwan on hunger strike against nuclear power

Taiwan anti-nuclear activist starts hunger strike The West Australian, Taipei (AFP) 22 April 14 – Former Taiwanese opposition leader and anti-nuclear activist Lin Yi-hsiung Tuesday launched an indefinite hunger strike in protest at a nearly completed nuclear facility, while some of his supporters clashed with police.”It’s very meaningful to be doing something good for Taiwan — I feel very calm,” Lin told a crowd of reporters and supporters before he began the hunger strike.

He added he had been forced into the situation because the authorities had ignored public opinion on nuclear power. He said the majority of people in Taiwan were against a fourth nuclear power plant.

Lin, who led the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from 1998-2000, has devoted himself to battling the island’s nuclear power policy in the past two decades.

“If anything unfortunate should happen to me, I want my family and friends to know that (those in power) murdered me,” the 72-year-old said before entering a church in Taipei to begin his indefinite fasting.

Outside parliament, dozens of protesters briefly clashed with the police as they attempted to surround the building in a show of support for Lin. They unfurled a large yellow banner reading “Salute chairman Lin Yi-hsiung, stop building fourth nuclear (plant)”, and held placards calling for the project to be terminated.

“If Lin Yi-hsiung loses his life, it is the evil government who have caused it,” said the group’s leader Tsai Ting-kuei………

April 23, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, Taiwan