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Lin Yi-xiong: the Power of One very influential anti nuclear Taiwanese

In Taiwan, an Anti-Nuclear Activist With Unusual Pull WSJ China Real Time, 23 April 14 Jenny W. Hsu.A high-profile Taiwanese anti-nuclear activist began a hunger strike on Tuesday to protest construction of the island’s fourth nuclear power plant, in what could become another challenge for the already beleaguered President Ma Ying-jeou.

Lin Yi-xiong, the former chairman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party and a longtime anti-nuclear activist, vowed to sustain on only water until the government suspends construction of the northern Taipei plant.

Less than 24 hours after Mr. Lin began his strike, both Mr. Ma and Premier Jiang Yi-hua tried to visit him, only to be turned away. Hunger strikes aren’t uncommon in the oft-fractious island, but Mr. Lin is the first striker who has received personal attention from the president and the cabinet leader…….
Analysts say that given his clout and the public’s already-ballooning opposition to nuclear power, Mr. Ma’s ruling Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, would face more arduous battles ahead of local elections later this year if Mr. Lin dies as a result of his hunger strike.

Mr. Ma—whose approval rating is currently 14%, according to a poll by Taiwan Indicator Survey Research—relied on his accommodative China policies to win re-election in 2012. But these same policies have also become his Achilles heels recently, with more people questioning whether the warmer trade ties with China have benefited Taiwan’s average workers……At 73, Mr. Lin is regarded across party lines as one of the most influential political figures in Taiwan since the 1970s. As a dissident, he was jailed multiple times during the island’s martial law era (1949-87).

In 1980, while Mr. Lin was imprisoned as a dissident, his mother and his seven-year old twin daughters were found stabbed to death in the basement of their home. His oldest daughter survived the attack with severe injuries. The case remain unsolved, and the house, which has been turned into a church, is where Mr. Lin is staging his fast…….Other anti-nuclear activists plan to join Mr. Lin in protest by staging a demonstration in front the Presidential Office on Saturday.http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/04/23/in-taiwan-an-anti-nuclear-activist-with-unusual-pull/

April 25, 2014 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment | Edi

April 25, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, Taiwan