Legislators across party lines slammed the Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday for turning a partially government-funded foundation into a promotional vehicle for Chinese agriculture.
The criticism followed a report in yesterday’s Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that the Rural Development Foundation (RDF) had switched from assisting agricultural development in foreign countries to promoting China’s agricultural policies.
The foundation’s Web site (www.rdf.org.tw) has just two sections on its homepage — “China’s Agricultural Information” and “China’s Agricultural Statistics” — and made no mention of Taiwan’s agriculture, the report said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠) said that soon after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office, 85-year-old Ke Jin-chao (葛錦昭), a former council official, became the foundation’s chairperson.
“The foundation is ‘Sinicizing’ in the name of ‘internationalizing.’ Its Web site details the agricultural policies of each province of China. It has essentially become an outlet for China’s policies,” she said.
On Sunday Chang accused the foundation of serving as a vehicle to transfer Taiwan’s advanced agricultural technologies to China.
DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) demanded the foundation update its Web site immediately.
“I’m hurt that the foundation has nothing but information on China’s agriculture. It is funded by donations from the government, so it should speak for Taiwan, not China,” he said.
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) asked if the government was trying to promote Taiwan’s agriculture or China’s.
Meanwhile, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Wang Cheng-teng (王政騰) told the legislature the government had commissioned the foundation to research information on Chinese agriculture to help cross-strait development. He denied accusations that it was a “white glove” through which the government could deal with Beijing.
“For cross-strait development, we feel that it is necessary to know each other’s [technologies and policies,]” Wang said.
The government provides about 0.24 percent of the RDF’s budget, Wang said, and the council only “supervises” the foundation.
Plans for the foundation to work with Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand are under way, Wang said.
But his comments failed to appease lawmakers.
DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said she “could not bear to listen to the excuse that the council was merely ‘trying to get to know Chinese policies.’”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) said the foundation should change its name to the “China Rural Development Foundation.”
A proposal by KMT Legislator Hsiao Ching-tien (蕭景田) calling on the council to provide details of its funding of the foundation since 1981 within a week was passed by the legislative session.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
RSS