Taiwan election race stalls cross-Strait engagement

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legislative Yuan ◽  
Progressive Party ◽  
Female President ◽  
Party Congress

Subject Electoral politics in Taiwan. Significance At the party congress of the ruling Kuomintang on June 19, Hung Hsiu-chu, deputy speaker of the Legislative Yuan, was formally recommended to represent the party in the presidential election on January 16, 2016. Hung will face Tsai Ing-wen, the chairwoman and presidential nominee of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2012. Barring a strong showing by an independent candidate, Taiwan will elect its first female president in 2016. Impacts Cross-strait agreements will stall during the election season and are unlikely to progress quickly under a DPP administration. Taiwan-US relations will improve as a result of Washington's growing frustration with Beijing. Unlike last time, Tsai will not face the perception that Washington favours the Kuomintang. A Tsai presidency would mean less business-friendly economic policies and moves toward decommissioning Taiwan's nuclear power plants. However, the Kuomintang is likely to retain control of the legislature, which would curtail Tsai's power considerably.

Taiwan's new government will upset regional status quo

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Judicial Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Trade Blocs ◽  
Progressive Party ◽  
Female President

Subject The outlook for Taiwan under the new administration. Significance Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was sworn in on May 20 as Taiwan's first female president and only its second leader not from the Kuomintang party, which has governed the island for all but eight years since 1945. In her inaugural address, Tsai outlined a five-point plan focused on reviving a stagnant economy, increasing social services for a rapidly aging population, and moving the export-driven economy away from a reliance on mainland China, Taiwan's largest market. Impacts Restructuring the economy will take time, and public pressure will build if global demand for exports does not rise quickly. Taiwan's bids to join regional trade blocs will meet resistance from China, which will press other countries to block it. Initiatives on judicial reform and 'truth and reconciliation' that discredit the Kuomintang will make domestic politics more acrimonious.

Party coup changes Taiwan election outlook

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Progressive Party

Significance Eric Chu, the party chairman, was nominated to replace Hung Hsiu-chu, whose candidacy failed to rally support within the party. He will run against Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. Impacts Cross-Strait relations will once again play the central role in the 2016 presidential and legislative elections. The Kuomintang's diplomatic stance will shift toward the DPP's in an attempt to assuage concerns over cross-Strait policy. Although Tsai has promised not to undo trade agreements with China, she is unlikely to press ahead with new ones. China will remain largely silent on the Taiwanese elections, to avoid reinforcing anti-China sentiment that is widespread in Taiwan.

Taiwan-China city-level ties bypass central government

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Government ◽  
National Level ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Chinese Investment ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Progressive Party

Subject Relations between sub-national governments in Taiwan and China. Significance China is attempting to bypass Taiwan’s central government -- with which it has severed formal ties -- and forge better relations with major municipalities and locally elected leaders. These efforts have found greater success since recent local elections that dealt major setbacks to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Impacts Politicians from both parties will be emboldened to turn to Chinese investment to stimulate local economies. Han Kuo-yu, newly elected mayor of Kaohsiung city, could lead the main opposition party’s comeback at the national level. Relations with China are likely to play a decisive role once again in Taiwan’s 2020 national elections.

Malawi’s Mutharika faces poll dispute storm

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
Elite Level ◽  
The Government ◽  
Progressive Party

Significance Incumbent President Peter Mutharika of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) narrowly won re-election, ahead of the main opposition candidates, Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and former Vice-President Saulos Chilima of the United Transformation Movement (UTM). The elections were marred by accusations of rigging, and both Chakwera and Chilima have launched court cases to overturn the result amid sizable post-poll protests. Impacts The opposition has ruled out power-sharing, but this may re-emerge as a compromise option should legal challenges fail. Opposition and civil society groups will increase calls for an amendment to the electoral system, with likely increased public backing. International donors will maintain pressure on the government over persistent budget overruns and elite-level corruption.

scholarly journals A BIM-driven framework for integrating rules and regulations in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akponanabofa Henry Oti ◽  
Peter Farrell ◽  
Fonbeyin Henry Abanda ◽  
Paul McMahon ◽  
Abdul-Majeed Mahamadu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Building Information Modelling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nuclear Plants ◽  
Task Requirements ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Query System ◽  
By Products

Purpose The relatively low capital cost and contributions to mitigating global warming have favoured the continuous construction and operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) across the world. One critical phase in the operation of nuclear plants for ensuring the safety and security of radioactive products and by-products is decommissioning. With the advent of digital twinning in the building information modelling (BIM) methodology, efficiency and safety can be improved from context-focus access to regulations pertaining to demolition of structures and the cleaning-up of radioactivity inherent in nuclear stations. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to propose a BIM-driven framework to achieve a more regulation-aware and safer decommissioning of nuclear power plants. Design/methodology/approach The framework considers task requirements, and landscape and environmental factors in modelling demolition scenarios that characterise decommissioning processes. The framework integrates decommissioning rules/regulations in a BIM linked non-structured query system to model items and decommissioning tasks, which are implemented based on context-focussed retrieval of decommissioning rules and regulations. The concept’s efficacy is demonstrated using example cases of digitalised NPPs. Findings This approach contributes to enhancing improvements in nuclear plant decommissioning with potential for appropriate activity sequencing, risk reduction and ensuring safety. Originality/value A BIM-driven framework hinged on querying non-structured databases to provide context-focussed access to nuclear rules and regulations and to aiding decommissioning is new.

Malawi’s Mutharika may struggle to be re-elected

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Cholera Outbreak ◽  
Content Type ◽  
People's Party ◽  
The Past ◽  
Northern Regions ◽  
The Government ◽  
Progressive Party

Subject Pressured Malawian president Significance Recurring corruption crises over the past year have seen President Peter Mutharika and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)’s popularity decline. Despite such travails, the DPP has recently attempted to consolidate its hold on parliament by co-opting members of the opposition People’s Party (PP). This comes soon after rebel PP members controversially supported DPP efforts to defeat an electoral reform bill that would have weakened Mutharika’s 2019 re-election hopes. Impacts The opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) will receive intensified overtures from the main parties ahead of the 2019 poll. Despite the recent parliamentary setbacks, a civil society push for electoral reform is unlikely to subside. Failure properly to combat a cholera outbreak in the Central and Northern regions would put further pressure on the government.

Saudi nuclear plans will generate controversy

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Nuclear Material ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Risks ◽  
Nuclear Plants ◽  
Security Infrastructure ◽  
International Partner ◽  
Lengthy Process

Subject The Saudi nuclear energy programme. Significance Riyadh plans to begin the lengthy process of integrating commercial nuclear power into its energy mix in 2018, selecting an international partner to begin construction of the first of what could be as many as 16 nuclear plants. However, the timing -- coinciding with a sharp rise in tensions with Tehran and the potential breakdown of the 2015 multilateral Iran nuclear deal -- makes this a sensitive issue. Impacts Riyadh will need to develop sophisticated safety and security infrastructure to protect its nuclear power plants. Salafi-jihadist groups in the region could target the plants in terrorist attacks or seek to steal nuclear material. Iran and to a lesser extent Syria could have the capability to launch cyberattacks against the operating systems. International partners will provide technical assistance but may be concerned about longer-term political risks.

Focus of Taiwan-China diplomatic contest will change

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sao Tome And Principe ◽  
Island State ◽  
The Government ◽  
Economic Necessity ◽  
Progressive Party

Subject Taiwan's 'diplomatic contest' with China. Significance Panama announced on June 12 that it was switching diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China, reducing the number of Taiwan’s diplomatic partners to 20. Panama is the second country to sever relations with Taipei since Tsai Ing-wen of the China-sceptic Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) became Taiwanese president in May last year. In late December, the small African island state of Sao Tome and Principe also switched recognition. Impacts Attitudes toward China in Taiwan will harden, but economic necessity will require Taipei to seek some common ground. As the next election approaches in 2020, the government will feel more pressure to be pragmatic towards China. China will be disinclined to cooperate, hoping that the China-friendly opposition will oust the current China-sceptic government.

Collective orientation and its implications for coordination and team performance in interdependent work contexts

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Hagemann ◽  
Greta Ontrup ◽  
Annette Kluge
Keyword(s):  
Team Performance ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Fire Service ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Collective Orientation ◽  
And Performance

Purpose This paper aims to explore the influence of collective orientation (CO) on coordination and team performance for interdependently working teams while controlling for person-related and team variables. Design/methodology/approach A total of 58 two-person-teams participated in a simulation-based firefighting task. The laboratory study took 2 h for each team. The effects of CO in tasks of increasing complexity were investigated under the consideration of control variables, and the relations between CO, coordination and team performance were assessed using a multivariate latent growth curve modeling approach and by estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Findings Team members high on CO performed significantly better than low-scoring members. The effect of CO on team performance was independent from an increasing task complexity, whereas the effect of CO on coordination was not. The effect of CO on team performance was mediated by coordination within the team, and the positive relation between CO and performance persists when including group efficacy into the model. Research limitations/implications As CO is a modifiable person-related variable and important for effective team processes, additional research on factors influencing this attitude during work is assumed to be valuable. Practical implications CO is especially important for highly interdependently working teams in high-risk-organizations such as the fire service or nuclear power plants, where errors lead to severe consequences for human beings or the environment. Originality/value No other studies showed the importance of CO for coordination and team performance while considering teamwork-relevant variables and the interdependence of work.

Innovative seismic resistant structure of shield building with base isolation and tuned-mass-damping for AP1000 nuclear power plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 1238-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gangling Hou ◽  
Meng Li ◽  
Sun Hai ◽  
Tianshu Song ◽  
Lingshu Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Seismic Isolation ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Base Isolation ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Seismic Safety ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Seismic isolation, as an effective risk mitigation strategy of building/bridge structures, is incorporated into AP1000 nuclear power plants (NPPs) to alleviate the seismic damage that may occur to traditional structures of NPPs during their service. This is to promote the passive safety concept in the structural design of AP1000 NPPs against earthquakes. Design/methodology/approach In conjunction with seismic isolation, tuned-mass-damping (TMD) is integrated into the seismic resistance system of AP1000 NPPs to satisfy the multi-functional purposes. The proposed base-isolation-tuned-mass-damper (BIS-TMD) is studied by comparing the seismic performance of NPPs with four different design configurations (i.e. without BIS, BIS, BIS-TMD and TMD) with the design parameters of the TMD subsystem optimized. Findings Such a new seismic protection system (BIS-TMD) is proved to be promising because the advantages of BIS and TMD can be fully used. The benefits of the new structure include effective energy dissipation (i.e. wide vibration absorption band and a stable damping effect), which results in the high performance of NPPs subject to earthquakes with various intensity levels and spectra features. Originality/value Parametric studies are performed to demonstrate the seismic robustness (e.g. consistent performance against the changing mass of the water in the gravity liquid tank and mechanical properties) which further ensures that seismic safety requirements of NPPs can be satisfied through the use of BIS-TMD.

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