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
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
Deflation in China is persisting, raising growing concerns domestically and internationally. Beijing’s stimulus policies introduced in September last year have largely been short-lived in financial markets and negligible in the real economy. Recent data showing disproportionately low bank loan growth relative to the expansion of the money supply suggest the limited effectiveness of the measures. Many have urged the government to take more decisive action, particularly through fiscal expansion, to avoid a deep deflationary spiral akin to Japan’s experience in the early 1990s. While Beijing’s policy choices remain uncertain, questions abound about the possible endgame for the Chinese economy if no decisive
Actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) on March 13 posted an Instagram caption after the opening of Tiffany’s Taipei flagship store two days earlier that read: “Thank you Tiffany for inviting us to Taipei China.” We know that Yeoh knows Taipei is in Taiwan, not China, because the caption was posted following comments she made — in English — in which she said: “Thank you to Tiffany for bringing me to Taipei, because I do love this country very much.” Her remarks and the subsequent Instagram caption were reported in Taiwan, in Chinese and English- language media such as Radio Free Asia, and overseas,
China poses a dire threat to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry as it steps up efforts to poach Taiwan’s top chip talent, following the US’ implementation of stringent chip restrictions. Beijing is keen to develop its own semiconductor technologies, leveraging skilled engineers from Taiwan, Europe and other countries to circumvent US restrictions on providing China access to advanced US chips, particularly those used in artificial intelligence applications, as well as other chip technologies and manufacturing equipment. Taiwan has always contended with talent competition from China, but the situation is worsening. The Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday said that China’s ARK Semi and
RSS