Council of Agriculture Minister Lee Ching-lung (
Lee said the movement of the pandas from China to Taiwan was an issue for conservationists and other specialists, and that the council would not attach any preconditions to a transfer.
After former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (
Taiwan is a member of the global village, Lee said, and should abide by international animal conservation regulations.
If the Chinese government officially proposed sending pandas to Taiwan, the council would demand from Beijing a panda export permit issued by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Lee said.
As Taiwan has never hosted pandas, the council has maintained a cautious attitude, inviting local and overseas experts to evaluate which organization or zoo is capable of providing the animals with appropriate care.
As soon as Beijing applies to export the pandas, the evaluation team will begin its work. If necessary, Taiwanese officials could visit China to better understand the animals' requirements.
Taipei has been making a great effort to be awarded the right to house the pandas, Lee said, and he stressed that he would be very glad to discuss the issue with Ma.
Officials from a KMT think tank and the Taipei Zoo left for Sichuan Province on Friday to attend a "panda symposium," triggering a battle between Taipei and Taichung to secure the animals.
CLONING
Meanwhile, Lee said Taiwan had scored a major breakthrough in animal cloning by successfully cloning an "economic animal."
After years of effort, Lee said, the council had succeeded in using somatic cells to clone the animal that reportedly has economic and medicinal value.
Lee claimed that the council-developed technology is unique.
However, he would not reveal what kind of animal had been cloned. He only said that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will "solve the riddle" early next month, and that the animals were neither dogs nor cats and of great potential value.
He further said the cloned animals are edible and safe, adding that they are not genetically modified and have instead been reproduced from somatic cells.
Lee said the council had done all the research itself, but some of the team members had also traveled to Britain for training.
"It took seven to eight years to come to this point at a cost of less than NT$100 million [US$3.1 million]. Thanks to the orientation of our research, we have made tremendous headway," Lee said.
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