Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) yesterday took on Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials over the government’s proposed lifting of the ban on imports of 830 Chinese agricultural products for processing in the proposed free economic pilot zones, saying their concerns were based on “misinformation.”
The minister told a press conference in Taipei that he was surprised at the questions raised by Greater Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Lee Yung-te (李永得) and Greater Tainan Deputy Mayor Yen Chun-tso (顏純左), both of the DPP, challenging the proposed liberalization policy that he said would “boost the development of agriculture.”
People should not view liberalization as a scheme to destroy the nation’s agricultural sector, he said.
“There is no chance whatsoever that we would be able to tap international market for our agricultural products if the project doesn’t go ahead as planned, the best we could hope for is that the ‘status quo’ is maintained,” Chen said.
Under the proposed project, which is stalled in the legislature, 830 agricultural products from China banned from being imported to Taiwan would be allowed to enter the pilot zones to be processed as food products.
Chen rejected the idea that food products made of agricultural materials imported from China should bear labels indicating the origin of the material to distinguish them from those made of Taiwan-grown agricultural ingredients.
Critics of the project have requested the labeling out of concern that products made of Chinese ingredients bearing the “Made in Taiwan (MIT)” brand would ruin the credibility of MIT products.
Citing the WTO’s “substantial transformation” on non-originating material rule, Chen said Taiwan is considered the country of origin of food products as long as they are manufactured in Taiwan.
National Chung Hsing University economist Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲), one of the critics, said he agreed with the minister that “substantial transformation” should be applicable to food products for exports, but added “that doesn’t mean that the government couldn’t require the labeling indicating the origin of material on products for domestic sale.”
The government should revise the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) to require the labeling on food products for domestic sale because consumers have the right to know where the material used in food products is from, Chen Chi-chung told the Taipei Times.
To address concerns that imports of Chinese agricultural materials for use in food processing in the zones would squeeze out domestically grown agricultural products, Chen Bao-ji said that the government would require a food producer to buy locally grown material equivalent to the amount it purchases from China. He said the rule would be stipulated in a bylaw after the pilot zone draft bill is passed by the legislature.
Chen Chi-chung said the rule should be written into the pilot zone draft act to ensure its enforcement.
“More importantly, since producers in the pilot zones would enjoy tax breaks, the government should demand that they use locally grown agricultural products as their main sources of material and only import material from China when there is insufficient supply in Taiwan,” Chen Chi-chung said.
‘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