The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday blasted President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for being rich in slogans, but ineffective when it comes to actually taking action in recurring food safety scandals.
“Ma is good at superficial talk, but is incompetent when it comes to action. When he talks, it is all rubbish,” DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
Lin said the growing list of scandals in recent years have left the public living in fear and scared of eating toxic additives or food that could cause to cancer or other illnesses.
The melamine-tainted milk powder scandal in 2008, the plasticizer-additive food scandal in 2011 and the contaminated flour and starch scandal this May were on the list.
“Whenever there is a tainted food scandal, Ma makes grand declarations, as he did at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s [KMT] Central Standing Committee meeting [yesterday] about the adulterated cooking oil scandal,” Lin said.
“Ma is deceiving the public with word play, re-arranging his sloganeering with dubious catchphrases,” Lin said.
“With the outbreak of yet another food scandal, the Ma administration is going through the same old motions. It convenes a meeting and makes declarations, but nothing ever gets done, and the problem does not get solved,” Lin said. “This shows Ma has neither the resolve nor the means to solve problems for the public. Ma has no credibility and he is not capable of dealing with these problems.”
As recently as a Sept. 5 meeting with food safety and consumer rights groups, Ma said that “to eat food that is safe and to eat without fear is the most fundamental right of the people, and the government will ensure that this right is safeguarded,” Lin said.
“One month later, we are in the middle of an adulterated cooking oil scandal, which has greatly damaged consumers’ trust in food safety as well as bankrupted the Ma administration’s credibility. We are completely disappointed with Ma and his government’s handling of these food scandals,” Lin said.
In related news, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) accused Ma of incompetence, saying that Taiwan has lost much of its internationally credibility because of the recurring food scandals.
“The Ma administration is an irresponsible lot. It does things in a haphazardly and careless fashion. The main qualification for a leader is to have principles. If Ma is unable to act, then he should return governance to the people,” Lee said.
Lee also accused businesspeople for being greedy and caring only about making a profit.
‘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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS