Officials must uphold the law
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Mach Ngoc Tran (麥玉珍) said her family has a 10-hectare farm for growing coffee beans and fruit trees in her hometown in Vietnam. As Vietnam only had white dragon fruit, she only had her first taste of the red variety when she came to Taiwan decades ago.
She said she was so amazed at the time that she took seeds and cuttings of red dragon fruit and smuggled them into Vietnam to plant there. Even more shocking is that she revealed the entirety of her illegal activity at an exports-related press event.
Taiwan’s Plant Variety and Plant Seed Act (植物品種及種苗法) states that privately carrying designated goods or items — including seeds — out of the country carries a maximum penalty of NT$2.5 million (US$76,909).
She knew she was breaking the law. Her actions have only contributed to bad impressions and stereotypes of new immigrants. As a legislator, she ought to be upholding the law, but has instead become the face of a group of bad actors.
Taiwan’s red dragon fruit, which is a huge hit in the Japanese fruit import market, is the result of the efforts of countless Taiwanese farmers.
The fruit’s cultivation process is not simple. They have to be grown and painstakingly tweaked multiple times over several growing seasons to produce desired fruit qualities before they can grow robustly in Taiwan’s climate.
All of this is the shining result of long-term Taiwanese farming techniques and expertise. The end product has been exported with massive success.
Mach’s contravention harms Taiwanese agriculture. The unlawful export of seeds hurt Taiwanese farmers, leading to the nation’s agricultural industry facing increased external competition.
Each year, exports of Taiwanese agricultural products exceed NT$5 billion. They are an important pillar of Taiwan’s economy.
As a new immigrant, Mach should use her legislative influence to legally promote the excellence of Taiwan’s products to the world and bring benefits back to Taiwan. She should not be taking seeds to other countries and harming this land that gave her the opportunity to win a position in the legislature.
Chueh Li
Taipei
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then