The importation of pork containing the feed additive ractopamine is not about politics, and legislators will be held accountable by the public and by history when they vote on the executive order covering the lifting of the ban on such imports, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday.
Pork products with traces of ractopamine and food safety are “public issues, not political issues,” Chiang said on the sidelines of an event in Hualien County after reporters asked him if the KMT had planned any strategies on handling the vote planned for this week in the Legislative Yuan.
Public opposition to the government’s decision to allow imports of US pork containing ractopamine residue has remained strong since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced on Aug. 28 that the government would ease the ban, he said.
Photo: CNA
People’s health should not be used as a bargaining chip, he added.
When members of the Legislative Yuan vote, they would be representing public opinion, not themselves, Chiang said.
Urging lawmakers to consider public opinion and concerns voiced by the public, he said that when they vote, they must be “accountable to history and to the people.”
“Many people joined the ‘Autumn Struggle’ march on Nov. 22, but the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] chooses not to see or hear [them],” Chiang said later in the day, reiterating plans for the KMT to take to the streets of Taipei again this week.
While the KMT has fewer votes in the legislature than the DPP, DPP lawmakers should “stand on the side of public opinion,” he said.
The KMT would also begin collecting a second round of signatures for its two referendum proposals — one on when referendums are held, and the second on the importation of pork, pig offal and other products containing ractopamine, he said.
“If [the legislature] cannot block [the policy], we will use the people’s votes to block it,” he said.
The Central Election Commission on Friday announced that the two proposals could advance to the second stage of gathering signatures.
Also on Friday, cross-caucus negotiations reached a consensus that the legislature on Thursday would review nine administrative directives related to allowing US imports of pork containing ractopamine residue, and a vote on the nine directives is expected.
KMT caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) on Saturday announced that the KMT caucus would stage two rallies in front of the Legislative Yuan’s Chun-hsien Building — on Wednesday evening and Thursday — to protest the government’s decision to lift the ban on the importation of US pork with ractopamine residue.
A large screen would be erected at the rally site to allow participants to watch a live broadcast of the legislative vote, Lin added.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS