Contrary to earlier official statements, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has spread from Yunlin County to neighboring Chiayi County, Council of Agriculture (COA) chairman Lin Hsiang-nung (
More than 80 percent of 131 cattle on a ranch in Liuchiao township (
Earlier yesterday, Watson Sung (
Lee Chin-lung (
Feng Han-peng (馮翰鵬), a professor from National Chunghsing University, claims that 60 to 70 percent of the Yunlin cows showed symptoms of FMD before they were slaughtered.
Feng was the first veterinarian to inspect the sick cows and was the person who informed the COA of a possible FMD outbreak.
But no one will know for sure about the exact condition of the animals, as all the cows have been slaughtered and incinerated, said Feng.
Meanwhile, many dairy farmers in Yunlin have disinfected their facilities and purchased FMD vaccinations for their herds.
Dairy operators in southern Taiwan have begun to complain about the government's shoddy handling of the FMD outbreak, and say that milk sales have dropped.
This is the third outbreak of FMD in as many years. A virulent strain of the disease devastated Taiwan's hog industry in 1997, forcing authorities to slaughter 4 million out of 7 million swine.
Inoculation against the disease is nearly 90 percent complete among pigs, according to the COA, but many cows and sheep have not yet been vaccinated.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS