The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have recently tried to clarify that their opposition to importing US pork containing ractopamine is not the same as opposing the US, and accused President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her administration of linking the two in an attempt to distort their positions.
In late August last year, the Tsai administration announced that it would lift a ban on imports of US pork containing ractopamine and beef from cattle more than 30 months old. Then-US vice president Mike Pence said that Taiwan’s decision opened the door for further economic cooperation and stronger trade ties between the nations. Then-US secretary of state Mike Pompeo echoed Pence, saying that the US welcomed Tsai’s move and that this opened the door to bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
Late last year, the American Institute in Taiwan issued a statement stressing that US exports to Taiwan and other trade partners followed international and domestic US consumer standards, and that they were safe. Politicians spreading disinformation and inciting groundless concerns among Taiwanese consumers is not helpful to anyone.
In late June, Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks were revived after several years of being moribund, and the office of the US Trade Representative issued a news release after the meeting saying that US and Taiwanese authorities “committed to intensify engagement aimed at addressing outstanding trade concerns, including with regard to market access barriers facing US beef and pork producers.”
Be it former US president Donald Trump or US President Joe Biden, the US thinks that enhancing bilateral trade and cooperation between the countries requires lifting import restrictions on US pork and beef.
The KMT and the TPP are contradicting themselves by being strongly opposed to an issue that the US government is taking for granted and is looking forward to, while at the same time insisting that they are not opposed to the US. Deceiving themselves and others in this way is not conducive to improving Taiwan-US relations.
Huang Wei-ping works in the public service industry.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS