Nuclear Plant Shutdown Leaves Taiwan Facing Energy Crunch

In 1996, a rust-streaked freighter carrying barrels of nuclear waste attempted to dock at Orchid Island off the southeast coast of Taiwan. It never made it to shore. Hundreds of residents, mostly from the island’s indigenous community, blocked the vessel with fishing boats and rocks, forcing it to turn back. It was the last time nuclear waste was sent there.

“I told them, if they insisted on coming in, we would burn the ship that night,” recalled Kuo Chien-ping, one of the movement’s leaders. Onshore, residents armed with rocks and bottles they claimed were filled with gasoline — it was actually water — lined the pier prepared to defend their island, also known as Lanyu. “It was the first time the government really listened to us,” said Syaman Lamuran, whose entire family joined the protest. “Everyone was there. Even my mother, barely five feet tall, was clutching a stone.”