Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday sought to determine whether there had been any “under-the-table deal” with the US that led to the decision by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to conditionally allow imports of US beef containing residues of ractopamine.
Via a press release issued by the Executive Yuan at about 10pm on Monday night, the government announced its plan to conditionally lift the ban. Local media reported that the announcement came on the eve of the arrival of a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) delegation to determine the nation’s eligibility to join the US visa waiver program (VWP). The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), previously declined to specify exactly when the team would arrive, said later that the team arrived on Saturday.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) described the policy U-turn on ractopamine as a “big gift” Ma gave to the US in return for the US nominating Taiwan as a visa waiver candidate three weeks before the Jan. 14 presidential election.
“Ma hurriedly made the announcement before the DHS team arrived in Taiwan because he needed to repay his election debt to the US,” Tsai said during a meeting of the legislature’s Diplomacy and National Defense Committee.
Tsai asked the government to explain what “under-the-table deal” it had reached with the US that led to the overnight decision, contrary to the pledge that Ma had made earlier that there was “no timetable” and “no preconceived policy” on the issue.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) denied there was a link between the two issues, saying the visit by the DHS team, a step which Taiwan has to go through to be admitted to the visa waiver program, was scheduled a long time ago.
After Monday night’s announcement, anonymous officials were quoted in several media reports as saying that keeping the ban could incur “retaliatory measures” from the US, including no resumption of bilateral talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement and that it could hurt the country’s bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The way the Ma administration handled the ractopamine dispute highlighted the weakness of the government: that it is at a loss when it comes under external pressure, DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said.
“It was not just a matter about US beef, but about how the government copes with stress. It was so incapable of withstanding the pressure, how can we expect it to protect national interests when negotiating with China?” Hsiao asked.
Yang said the US’ concern over the beef issue carried weight in the decisionmaking process on the government’s policy on ractopamine, but that he would characterize it as the government having “realized the importance of the Taiwan-US relationship,” rather than that the US exerted pressure on the government to lift the ban.
“There was no give-and-take,” Yang said.
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