Several women’s rights groups gathered to stage a protest outside the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday, criticizing the government for not properly handling the melamine-tainted food scandal and urging a boycott of Chinese-made products.
The groups that participated in the protest included the Taipei Association for the Promotion of Women’s Rights (TAPWR), Sweeties Taiwan and Taiwan 21st Century Woman Association.
They gathered more than 30 supporters in front of the DOH building yesterday.
The protesters criticized the department for backtracking on melamine standards, displaying inconsistent policies on the import of high-risk products from China, causing local businesses to suffer and sparking fears about product safety.
TAPWR accused the government of confusing consumers about food safety while doing little to clear up the scandal with Chinese authorities.
The protesters urged Minister of Health Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) to take immediate action, given that China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) is expected to visit Taiwan soon.
TAPWR also demanded that Yeh take political responsibility if more melamine-tainted products are discovered in Taiwan.
The protesters, who gathered in front of the DOH building in Taipei, brought several empty containers of milk powder and pushed them over to demonstrate their anger.
Several people held up signs and shouted slogans such as “Chinese-made products not welcome,” “China-free, fear-free” and “Black-hearted China, cold-hearted government.”
TAPWR general secretary Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英), who is also a Democratic Progressive Party legislator, told the Taipei Times during a telephone interview, “[Yeh] needs to tell it the way it is. If he did something wrong, then he should apologize.”
Huang said that if people, such as political pundits have misrepresented him or the department, then “they [Yeh and his team of experts] need to exonerate themselves with proper information in order to keep the channel of communication open with the public.”
‘OBNOXIOUS MAN’: The KMT’s Chen Ching-hui moved into Chung Chia-pin’s path atop the podium and reached for him before he grabbed at her legs with both hands Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) yesterday said he slipped and lost his balance, and did not know who was around him, after jumping onto the speaker’s podium at the legislature in Taipei. He apologized after a collision with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽), who moved to intercept him as he mounted the podium. There was pushing and shoving when the session started in the morning as KMT lawmakers attempted to block access to the podium to shield Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) so he could preside over the session. Video footage showed Chung step on a chair and
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight
Television presenter Mickey Huang (黃子佼) yesterday was indicted for allegedly possessing sexually explicit videos involving minors. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Huang after the High Prosecutors’ Office found deficiencies in its initial probe and on April 19 returned the case for further investigation. Earlier last month, Huang had been given two years of deferred prosecution. Prosecutors said that they found in their latest investigation that Huang had been a member of the online forum “Chuangyi Sifang” (創意私房) since Feb. 12, 2014. He purchased sexually explicit videos involving minors, and had downloaded images and videos that featured the breasts and sexual organs of young