A small group of bloggers and Internet users staged a “flash mob” protest in front of the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon to oppose the government’s decision to relax restrictions on US bone-in beef and beef products.
Chen Tai-yuan (陳泰源), who led the nine-strong protest, said yesterday was just the beginning of a long campaign and they hoped to stage at least one flash mob protest a day at mass rapid transit system (MRT) stations. Videos of the protests would be posted on YouTube, he said.
Chanting “Oppose toxic beef! Just say no! Relaunch negotiations,” participants in black lay on the ground for two minutes playing dead. They staged two protests, an hour apart.
Chen said they wore black to signify a funeral for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his administration, which he said had failed to protect the health of the public.
“Vegetarians can get mad cow disease,” he said. “There is a proven case in India.”
While the administration has reassured the public on the safety of US bone-in beef and beef products, Chen said he was not convinced.
“If it is safe, why did Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) say he would only eat US beef if President Ma eats it,” he said.
When asked whether he would eat US beef if Ma ate it in public to vouch for its safety, Chen said if Ma was willing to risk his own life that was his business.
Chen said he looked at the matter from two perspectives. One was whether US beef was safe and the other was how the administration had conducted its negotiations with Washington.
On the safety of US beef, Chen said Japan had sent food safety experts to the US to examine the slaughter of cattle younger than 20 months old and the expenses had been paid for by the US government. Taiwan, on the other hand, was conducting random checks at its own expense.
“Why? Are we second-class citizens or something?” he said. “Where is our dignity?”
Participants in yesterday’s protest said they supported the cause, but did not want their faces to be seen.
An 18-year-old who covered his face with a denim jacket said media exposure would not be good for his modeling career. Another participant wearing a surgical mask, black sunglasses and a baseball cap said he was not a supporter of the Democratic Progressive Party, but he believed in the ban on US bone-in beef. His position, however, ran counter to that of his company, a TV station.
Peng Lung-san (彭龍三), a motor scooter mechanic, lamented the fact that ordinary people were powerless, saying the government did whatever it wanted in its own interests.
Speaking from his own experience, Peng said the Taipei City Government had turned a deaf ear to his pleas not to demolish his apartment to make way for a new, bigger building complex. He said the city approved of such projects under the pretext of “urban planning.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS