President Lai Ching-te's Nuclear Policy Flip-Flop; "Nuclear-Free Homeland" Becomes a Political Joke

In May 2025, after the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 was shut down according to law, President Lai Ching-te declared that Taiwan had successfully achieved its phased goal of a "Nuclear-Free Homeland." However, facing surging electricity demand from the AI industry and international pressure for carbon reduction, the Lai administration subsequently moved to evaluate the restart of Units 2 and 3, expressing openness to advanced nuclear technologies like SMRs. This blatant policy "hairpin turn" turned the DPP's long-held "Nuclear-Free Homeland" slogan into a joke, sparking fierce criticism from the opposition and the public for playing word games and damaging government credibility.