A Hong Kong health official made a rare public complaint yesterday about China taking five days to explain why a massive pork recall was ordered just across the border in Shenzhen.
The pork recall last weekend caused a big health scare in the territory, which imports much of its pork and other food from China.
Hong Kong officials first found out about the massive pork recall last Saturday through media reports, Eddy Chan (陳育德), deputy secretary of the Health, Welfare and Food Department, told lawmakers.
"At that time, we had not received any notification from Shenzhen about the reason behind the operation," Chan said.
He complained that a formal letter explaining why the pork was being recalled finally arrived from Shenzhen on Thursday -- five days after the recall began.
"They forwarded the reasons to us rather late," Chan said.
He said Shenzhen officials recalled the pork because they feared that some pigs might have been infected with the swine-borne illness streptococcus suis, which recently killed 39 people in Sichuan Province. But he said Shenzhen reported the pork tested negative for the bacteria.
Hong Kong Health Secretary York Chow (
Communication between Hong Kong and the mainland has long been a sore spot between the two sides. It became an issue of extreme concern for Hong Kong after the 2003 outbreak of SARS.
Yesterday, some lawmakers urged Hong Kong officials to be tougher on their mainland counterparts.
Legislator Vincent Fang (方剛) said, "Sometimes being nice is not going to be useful. If you just say maybe our measures are better than yours, they won't listen to you."
Fang suggested that Hong Kong station health experts on the mainland could quickly check out reported problems.
Meanwhile, the territory's residents were told not to buy eels from China after tests yesterday confirmed the presence of a suspected cancer-causing chemical in the imports.
Eleven of 14 eels from China tested this week were found to contain malachite green, Chow told legislators yesterday.
Malachite green is a chemical used to treat parasitic infections at fish farms. It has been been banned in the US and the EU.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
RSS