Sixteen civic groups took to the streets of Taipei yesterday to demand the resignation of Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) over the Cabinet’s decision to push for a conditional lifting of a ban on imports of US beef containing a controversial feed additive.
About 70 members from the groups rallied in front of the Control Yuan before marching to the Executive Yuan, where they demanded Chen’s resignation over what they described as the government’s “hasty” decision to lift the ban on US beef containing residues of the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine.
While the government says “there are no reports that show ractopamine is unsafe, neither are there reports that show it is [safe],” Homemakers United Foundation president Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) said.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
She accused the government of only citing figures that favor its decision, while ignoring the fact that there are no reports that guarantee the safety of the drug.
“It was a very hasty decision made without thorough discussion and evaluation,” Chen said.
“The meeting held by the Council of Agriculture was a sham,” she said, referring to the council’s third interministerial meeting on ractopamine, which failed to deliver a clear statement on the drug’s safety.
The groups demanded that the premier step down and that the government ban all imports of products containing traces of ractopamine. The legislature should pass a law before March 20 to ban imports of such products, they added.
If the premier did not step down by the end of this month, the groups would launch a large-scale protest on April 1, said Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳), a representative of the Life Conservationist Association.
More than 100 civic groups will hold demonstrations around the country from next week, Ho added.
The Cabinet said on Monday evening that it was leaning toward allowing imports of US beef containing ractopamine residues as long as four principles were followed: there was a safe level of ractopamine in beef; the permits for importing beef and pork were kept separate; imported beef was clearly labeled and the import of internal organs was banned.
The Republic of China Swine Association said on Tuesday that more than 8,000 pig farmers would take part in a rally in Taipei today to protest against the import of US beef containing ractopamine.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
RSS