About 200 farmers from the south protested yesterday against a 70 percent increase in fertilizer prices, demanding government subsidies to help them offset rising costs.
The protesters, mostly from Pingtung and Tainan counties, held up fertilizer bags emblazoned with slogans such as “Fertilizer Prices Rise, Farmers Die.”
Last month, the government lifted a three-year freeze on fertilizer prices, allowing suppliers to factor in their rising costs amid soaring global raw material prices.
The protesters said the move encouraged widespread hoarding, leading to a severe fertilizer shortage.
The new administration under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has also lifted freezes on fuel and electricity prices, setting off a wave of price hikes for everything from food to household supplies.
“Our new leader has promised us a better life, but we see nothing but hardships ahead,” said protester Lan Yi-yuan, a vegetable and fruit grower in Pingtung County.
Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) promised the farmers that the government would stop further hikes in fertilizer prices for at least four months as an anti-hoarding measure. He did not comment on the farmers’ demand for subsidies.
The government has said it would strive to keep inflation at 3.3 percent this year — up from a 2 percent forecast in February — by cutting commodity taxes and offering other subsidies.
In related news, the Bureau of Investigation under the Ministry of Justice yesterday arrested Chiu Hsin-hsing (邱信行), a specialist at a branch of the state-run Taiwan Fertilizer Co (台肥) in central Taiwan, for illegally storing 560 tonnes of fertilizer in Yunlin County.
Investigators from the bureau’s Chiayi County branch — along with police from Minsyong Precinct of the Chiayi County Police Bureau and officials from Yunlin County Government — yesterday found 15,400 bags of fertilizer in Douliou City (斗六), Yunlin County, allegedly hoarded by Chiu. Each bag weighed about 40kg.
Chiu is suspected of purchasing the 15,400 bags from the company in the name of a dummy fertilizer store that he had set up in Douliou City, investigators said. He then hoarded the bags, waiting to profit from the price hikes.
Chiu’s action resulted in a shortage of fertilizer in central Taiwan last month, police said, adding that as fertilizer prices had already risen from NT$350 to NT$510 per bag, Chiu could have made more than NT$2.5 million (US$82,450) profits from his stock of fertilizer.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS