The 32-year-old user of online social networking service Plurk.com, Lin Jung-cheng (林融政), was among a group of about a dozen plurkers from Taipei, Taichung and Tainan taking part in the march.
“Of course we’re worried about the safety of US beef, but we’re more upset that the government signed the agreement [to lift the ban] without telling the public first,” Lin said. “We’re quite suspicious about what the government has gained from the US in return.”
A woman surnamed Lai (賴) in her 50s took her 10-year-old grandson, dressed in a cow costume, with her to the march.
She said she didn’t care if she was infected with mad cow disease since she’s lived a full life, “but I must take part in the protest for the sake of my grandchildren and their grandchildren.”
Tang Kao Hsuan-feng (唐高炫風) drew a lot of attention for wearing his camouflage army uniform and holding a large Republic of China flag.
“I voted for [President] Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] and was a big supporter, but that doesn’t mean that I should pretend that I don’t see when he makes mistakes, because I know what’s wrong and what’s right,” Tang Kao said. “Ma should renegotiate the beef agreement because US beef threatens the health of Taiwanese.”
Former DPP legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), on the other hand, urged the public to call on elected representatives to support a proposed amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) scheduled for review in the legislature on Thursday that would block imports of some US beef parts.
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