Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday played a key role in a vote on a resolution to ban the import and sale of US beef following the discovery of a case of mad cow disease in California on Tuesday, a vote described by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip as a “warning sign” for the government.
The resolution, initiated by opposition parties, called for the government to order the removal of US beef from shelves, to place imported US beef under customs seal and to impose a temporary ban on imports of US beef and beef products.
“Article 5-7 of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures allows WTO members to take provisional precautionary measures in case of insufficient scientific evidence on a food safety risk. The Indonesian government has suspended imports of US beef, but Presdent Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government has done nothing,” the resolution said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
In a rare development, about a third of KMT lawmakers were absent for the vote, even though the party had issued notices of compulsory mobilization to all its 64 legislators to attend the plenary session.
As a result, the KMT, which holds 64 of the 113 seats in the legislature, nearly lost the vote.
The first ballot, held to place the motion at the top of the agenda for discussion at the session, saw 42 “yes” and 39 “no” votes, with two “abstentions” by KMT legislators Yang Ying-hsiung (楊應雄) and Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井).
At the request of the KMT, a second vote was held, in which Wang voted “no” after the ballot saw the votes tied at 44 each, thus defeating the motion.
Before voting, Wang called a five-minute break, during which caucus whips had a negotiation meeting in a back room, while opposition lawmakers chanted “Speaker, jiayou (加油)” in a bid to win Wang over.
“I proposed holding a repeat vote, but the opposition disagreed. Therefore, I had to handle the situation [by voting on the motion myself],” Wang told reporters.
Wang said he did not vote in favor or against the content of the resolution, but voted against adding the motion to the agenda, adding that he did not violate the principle of neutrality the speaker is bound to abide by.
It was the first time he had voted in his capacity as speaker, said Wang, a seven-term legislator who has served as speaker for 13 years.
At a separate press conference, KMT caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said the vote revealed a lack of consensus among party members on the controversies surrounding the mad cow issue and the government’s plan to partially ease an import ban on US beef imports containing residues of the livestock feed additive ractopamine.
“[The vote today] was a warning sign,” Lin told reporters.
Some KMT lawmakers stood outside the chamber chatting rather than going inside to vote, while some showed up, but then refused to vote when they were instructed to do so by caucus whips, and some arrived late, Lin said.
Lin would not comment on whether the party would reprimand those who failed to act as directed, but said he would look into the matter.
All opposition lawmakers were present for the vote, except for DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), who took the session off to receive cancer treatment, and DPP Legislator Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財), who was permitted to be absent from the vote to campaign for the party’s candidate in a township chief by-election in Lugang Township (鹿港), Changhua County, to be held today.
Three independent lawmakers, who are usually the KMT’s allies, were absent.
The Executive Yuan on Wednesday decided not to restrict US beef imports for the time being as it is waiting for an epidemiology study on the case and observing how other countries respond. It vowed to take appropriate action once all the necessary information had been received.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said the policy was the same as that adopted by the Democratic Progressive Party government in response to a case of mad cow disease in the US in 2006, in accordance with procedures recognized by the WTO and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and that was in step with South Korea and Japan.
American Institute in Taiwan spokesperson Christopher Kavanagh said yesterday that the US government was providing updated information on the case every day and that it would share the results of the epidemiology study once it has been completed.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS