Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislative Yuan Convener Lin Wei-chou (林為州) yesterday filed charges against Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) for allegedly spreading false information related to statements on US pork imports, police said.
The Taipei Police Department’s Zhongzheng First Precinct said it had received Lin’s charges that Su allegedly breached the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) and the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) when he allegedly said that a Pingtung County company supported the government’s decision to allow imports of US pork with traces of ractopamine.
The charges were filed with the police as social order maintenance breaches fall within its jurisdiction.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
In response to questions from KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), Su on Tuesday said that Sings Kout Trading Co supported the government’s lifting of a ban on US pork containing the leanness-enhancing drug, leading the company to issue a statement that it did not support the decision, Lin said.
Su does not have legislative immunity and his comments constitute spreading false information, Lin said.
The Executive Yuan yesterday issued a statement calling for the KMT not to twist Su’s words and mislead the public.
Executive Yuan Secretary-General Li Meng-yen (李孟諺) said Su and Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) had said that businesses were supportive of the government efforts and aid for Taiwanese pork exports.
“They never mentioned ‘pork importers support the importation of pork with ractopamine,’” Li said, adding that Legislative Yuan recordings would be opened for review.
Li said that the incident was political manipulation, and that the government and the pork industry share the same goal of increasing Taiwanese pork competitiveness and exports.
The Pingtung County Fire Department on Wednesday performed an inspection at Sings Kout and the county’s Bureau of Labor Affairs also contacted the company, leading KMT lawmakers to say they suspected the inspection was in retaliation for the company’s statement.
However, Sings Kout on Thursday said that it had on Friday last week arranged for a fire equipment inspection and that the incident had been a coincidence.
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