Presidential Office Clarifies Environmental Group Meeting: President Reiterates 3 Principles for Evaluating Nuclear Power
The Presidential Office denied media reports that President Lai Ching-te admitted to restarting nuclear power. It clarified that the President merely reiterated the three core principles: safety, waste resolution, and social consensus.
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- 📰 Published: April 22, 2026 at 14:52
- 🔍 Collected: April 22, 2026 at 15:02 (9 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 23, 2026 at 17:00 (25h 58m after Collected)
(Central News Agency, reporter Wen Kuei-hsiang, Taipei, 22nd) Media reported that "President Lai Ching-te admitted during a meeting with environmental groups that he would restart nuclear power in accordance with the law." Presidential Office sources today restored the actual situation, pointing out that President Lai reiterated in the meeting that the nuclear power issue must be carefully evaluated under the 3 principles of ensuring nuclear safety, resolving nuclear waste, and social consensus. He did not mention the content claimed by the media, calling on the outside world to avoid false quotes and over-interpretation.
The United Daily News reported that environmental groups met with President Lai yesterday. After the meeting, Ho Tsung-hsun, convener of the environmental conference issue communication platform, said, "President Lai admitted the government is under great pressure and will now legally follow procedures to restart nuclear power." The report even further inferred that "President Lai will eventually restart nuclear power based on public opinion." Ho Tsung-hsun denied this on Facebook today, emphasizing that the reported content did not come from his mouth, nor was it the President's original intention expressed at the scene, hoping the outside world would understand the discussion context completely.
A Presidential Office source stated that inviting environmental groups to the Presidential Office for dialogue around Earth Day in mid-to-late April is a convention established since the administration of former President Chen Shui-bian, which has continued for 23 years. Successive governments have followed this mechanism to exchange views on major environmental, energy, and sustainability issues. This year, President Lai also held talks with environmental groups as usual, demonstrating the government's consistent position of continuing rational communication and accepting suggestions from civil society.
The source stated that the actual situation of the meeting was the President reiterating that whether to restart nuclear power must be handled under careful, professional, and responsible premises. Relevant assessments must return to three core principles: ensuring nuclear safety, resolving nuclear waste, and social consensus.
The source emphasized that the content claimed in the United Daily News report was not mentioned in the meeting that day. Regarding public policy discussions, the outside world should understand them based on the complete context and factual foundation, avoiding false quotes and over-interpretation, which lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.
The United Daily News reported that environmental groups met with President Lai yesterday. After the meeting, Ho Tsung-hsun, convener of the environmental conference issue communication platform, said, "President Lai admitted the government is under great pressure and will now legally follow procedures to restart nuclear power." The report even further inferred that "President Lai will eventually restart nuclear power based on public opinion." Ho Tsung-hsun denied this on Facebook today, emphasizing that the reported content did not come from his mouth, nor was it the President's original intention expressed at the scene, hoping the outside world would understand the discussion context completely.
A Presidential Office source stated that inviting environmental groups to the Presidential Office for dialogue around Earth Day in mid-to-late April is a convention established since the administration of former President Chen Shui-bian, which has continued for 23 years. Successive governments have followed this mechanism to exchange views on major environmental, energy, and sustainability issues. This year, President Lai also held talks with environmental groups as usual, demonstrating the government's consistent position of continuing rational communication and accepting suggestions from civil society.
The source stated that the actual situation of the meeting was the President reiterating that whether to restart nuclear power must be handled under careful, professional, and responsible premises. Relevant assessments must return to three core principles: ensuring nuclear safety, resolving nuclear waste, and social consensus.
The source emphasized that the content claimed in the United Daily News report was not mentioned in the meeting that day. Regarding public policy discussions, the outside world should understand them based on the complete context and factual foundation, avoiding false quotes and over-interpretation, which lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.