Wei Chuan Foods Corp’s (味全食品工業) new chairman yesterday vowed to take bold measures to win back the public’s trust over the safety of its food.
“I hope to lead Wei Chuan back on the right track, with four major directions: raising business ethics, launching a complete food traceability system, improving information disclosure, and corporate social responsibility [CSR],” new Wei Chuan chairman Jason Lee (李鳳翱) told a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Taipei.
Lee, 51, served as chairman of the Consumers’ Foundation in 2005 and 2006.
Photo: CNA
Wei Chuan’s board yesterday approved Lee’s appointment to replace Wei Ying-chun (魏應充), who stepped down last month after the company, its parent company — Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團) — and its affiliated companies were all found to be selling cooking oils made with ingredients unfit for human consumption.
In September, Wei Chuan was forced to recall several of its oil products after they were found to contain recycled cooking oil and oil extracted from industrial grease.
Meanwhile, Cheng I Food Co (正義股份) had been selling 68 lard-based edible oils containing oil meant for use in animal feed and Wei Chuan had used some of those oils in products sold under its own brand.
The discovery sparked outrage, leading consumers to stage a boycott of Ting Hsin and Wei Chuan products.
While expecting Lee to lead the company’s reform in food traceability management and information disclosure, Wei Chuan’s board also elected four new members, after the Wei (魏) family agreed to completely give up their management rights in the firm, a move that is in line with the company’s previous announcement and market expectations.
Shih Hsin University vice principal Chen Ching-ho (陳清河), Taipei Medical University pharmacy professor Cheng Hui-wen (鄭慧文) and National Open University public administration associate professor Johnson Shen (沈中元) took over three board seats vacated by Wei Ying-chiao (魏應交), the second son of the Wei family, Wei Hung-ming (魏宏名), son of Wei Ying-chou (魏應州), the eldest of the four Wei brothers, and Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店) chairman Pan Chin-ting (潘進丁), who represented the Wei family and stepped down last month.
Wei Chuan’s board also elected accountant Charles Chen (陳永清) as one of the two supervisors in the 11-member board, which has nine directors.
Chen replaced Frank Lin (林清棠), vice president of Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (康師傅控股), which is best known for its Master Kong brand and is also owned by the Wei family.
The Wei family still holds a 40.4 percent stake in Wei Chuan.
However, Lee said the Wei family has promised him complete run of the firm’s management, with no interference or resistance to the new Wei Chuan board’s operations.
“I will never be a rubber stamp or puppet” of the Wei family, Lee said.
Wei Chuan’s stock surged by the daily limit of 7 percent yesterday to close at NT$28.2 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Additional reporting by CNA
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2