The debate over whether live cattle should be imported from the outlying island of Kinmen is heating up, with one side raising the specter of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and the other saying that fears are being raised by cattle farmers who fear the competition.
No representatives from Kinmen were invited to a press conference held by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (
Instead, Taiwanese cattle farmers and animal rights activists protested the proposed move to import 100 live cattle from Kinmen as a test case.
Imports of cattle, pigs and goats were banned after an outbreak of the highly contagious and sometime deadly (for livestock) FMD outbreak in Kinmen in 1999.
The restrictions were relaxed in 2005 to allow animal parts to be exported to Taiwan, but the ban remains for live animals.
Animal rights activists from the Environmental and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) protested the stress put on the animal during the transit and quarantine process.
The pilot scheme was awaiting the final stamp of approval from the Council of Agriculture (COA), having already cleared the COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) requirements.
"Kinmen cattle are now safe," said Huang Kuo-ching (
But cattle farmers are fearful that the island's proximity to China will make it an entry point from which contraband cattle from China could enter, potentially allowing a devastating spread of foot and mouth disease.
"Where did the last bout of FMD come from?" asked cattle farmer Huang Mu-tu (黃木土). "From Chinese cattle imported through Kinmen."
"Contraband cattle are only a sanpan ride away," Tien said. "The motivation for profit is too strong. Smugglers will find a way."
Li Tseng-tsai (
"We have cheap and plentiful feed in the form of grain mash left over from our distillery industry and abundant land for grazing cattle. As long as we can export it, our cattle industry has enormous room for growth," he said, adding that he hopes the number of cattle in Kinmen will rise from 3,000 heads and less than 600 animals slaughtered annually to 20,000 heads with 10,000 slaughtered.
"It would be altogether impossible for contraband cattle to find their way to Kinmen," Hu Hsi-tsai (胡錫載), the head of the the Kinmen Animal and Plant Diseased Control Center told the Taipei Times.
"Calves are registered within a week of birth and eartagged and photographed within a month of birth. They are cold-branded with liquid nitrogen," Hu said.
Following that process, "each sale has to be reported and documented. All cattle are tested for FMD and quarantined prior to slaughter," Hu added.
The legislator for Kinmen, the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Wu Cherng-dean (
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition