Patent rights and trademarks of many renowned Taiwanese agricultural products have been infringed upon by Chinese traders, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator said yesterday.
The infringement of trademarks of local products like Kukeng coffee and Chihshang rice was seriously undermining the rights of local farmers, DPP Legislator Lin Yun-sheng (林耘生) said.
He called on the DPP administration to take strong action.
Lin claimed trademarks for famed products such as wine from Puli, Hsinchu rice noodles, Hsiluo soy sauce, Tungting oolong tea and Tungkang seafood had been registered by Chinese traders with the Beijing authorities.
Lin said that Taiwan and China are members of the WTO and that disputes over trademarks and patent rights should be dealt with under the WTO framework.
Nevertheless, the Chinese authorities had evaded talks with their Taiwanese counterparts in international forums, Lin added.
Huang Pei-hsun, a section chief from the Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) under the Council of Agriculture, said the agency would sponsor a ministerial meeting to work on ways to resolve the matter.
The Mainland Affairs Council and other government agencies would be present at the meeting, Huang said, adding that they would consider sending representatives from the tea industry to China with government assistance to seek protection for their products.
Council official Chen Chun-hung said that if Taiwan and China resume dialogue, the council will help farmers seek protection for their products in China.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial