00:48Taiwan: Water cannons douse Taipei anti-nuclear protesters
Taiwan: Water cannons douse Taipei anti-nuclear protesters
Thousands of protesters blocked a main road in Taipei's city centre Sunday, vowing not to leave until the government gives up plans for the island's fourth nuclear power plant.
Taipei's mayor pledged to clear the road by early Monday morning, in order for citizens to be able to go to work. In the early morning hours riot police began to clear the road with water cannons until only a few hundred protesters remained. Police then dragged the remaining protesters away.
Construction on Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant is nearly complete, but opposition from both environmental groups as well as scepticism from the general population has brought the process to a halt. Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster hit Japan in 2011, scepticism over nuclear power has grown in Taiwan, which like Japan is prone to earthquakes that could trigger a tsunami.
00:48Taiwan: Water cannons douse Taipei anti-nuclear protesters
Thousands of protesters blocked a main road in Taipei's city centre Sunday, vowing not to leave until the government gives up plans for the island's fourth nuclear power plant.
Taipei's mayor pledged to clear the road by early Monday morning, in order for citizens to be able to go to work. In the early morning hours riot police began to clear the road with water cannons until only a few hundred protesters remained. Police then dragged the remaining protesters away.
Construction on Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant is nearly complete, but opposition from both environmental groups as well as scepticism from the general population has brought the process to a halt. Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster hit Japan in 2011, scepticism over nuclear power has grown in Taiwan, which like Japan is prone to earthquakes that could trigger a tsunami.