American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Stephen Young told a press conference yesterday that Taiwan should fully open its market to US beef, but acknowledged that the possibility of the US government and Taiwan signing a free-trade agreement (FTA) was remote.
Young said the US was asking the Taiwanese government to make a “science-based decision” consistent with the tenets laid out by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), to allow the comprehensive no-strings attached import of US beef to Taiwan.
Since 2005, Taiwan has twice imposed a partial ban on the meat after two confirmed cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, were confirmed in the US. Currently, only bone-free beef from cattle under 30 months of age is allowed for sale in Taiwan.
Some medical research suggests consumption of BSE-tainted beef can lead to fatal brain disease in humans.
The government has been reluctant to lift restrictions, citing a lack of public support on the issue.
Consumers Foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) has repeatedly urged the government not to give in on the issue for the sake of public health.
“The US currently already supplies 32 percent of Taiwan’s beef. It is time for the [Taiwanese public] to enjoy access to the same range of US beef and beef products that US consumers eat and enjoy every day,” Young said, urging the Taiwanese government to also increase imports of US pork, rice, fruit and wheat.
Young did not sound optimistic about a Taiwan-US FTA, saying that the subject remained a bone of contention in the US Congress.
This year’s annual bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talk had yet to be scheduled, Young said, even though in July he mentioned the talks would be held in Taipei later this year.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the US side has suspended talks on Taiwan-US trade issues until the beef dilemma is resolved.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS