The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday rebutted allegations that DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) met with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton in a “secret meeting” in an attempt to justify the party’s apparent opposition to US beef purely as an election gambit.
The DPP made the rebuttal in response to remarks by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), who alleged at a press conference yesterday that Tsai told Stanton last Wednesday that the DPP did not oppose relaxation of US beef imports, but had simply manipulated the issue to boost public support for the DPP in the upcoming city and county chief elections.
He said Tsai treated the public’s health as a stepping stone for the elections. Lu did not present evidence to back his claims, but urged Tsai to respond to the allegation.
In response, DPP spokeswoman Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said: “The DPP has a long-standing policy to oppose the import of US bone-in beef, cow organs and risky materials. This was our position when we were the ruling party and we continue to abide by it.”
Hsiao said Tsai had frequent exchanges with the AIT on a wide array of issues. The main objective of last week’s meeting was to express the DPP’s view that the government’s sudden decision to lift bans on previously sanctioned products had shattered consumer confidence, Hsiao said, adding that Tsai also reiterated the DPP’s demand that bilateral beef talks be restarted afresh, saying the request was a reflection of public opinion.
Hsiao lambasted the KMT for bad-mouthing the DPP to the US and smearing the party as being anti-American.
“We must stress that our opposition against a comprehensive opening of US beef does not equal anti-US sentiment. [The beef issue] is closely linked to food safety and as Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the DPP is obligated to safeguard the country’s public health,” she said.
DPP Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) accused the KMT of engaging in a smear campaign and said that it was using the beef issue as a smoke screen to evade its promise to pass the proposed amendment on the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法).
The Legislature’s Procedure Committee yesterday scheduled a number of proposed amendments to the Act Governing Food Sanitation to be put on Friday’s plenary agenda. Among the proposals was a version proposed by the KMT caucus yesterday to amend Article 14 of the Act, authorizing the government to “draw up measures to inspect beef products from areas where the risk of mad cow disease has been under control.”
In contrast, the DPP’s proposed amendment and another proposal by KMT Legislator Daniel Hwang (黃義交) both sought to ban bovine skulls, brains, eyes and ground beef from nations or areas where cases of the disease have been documented.
Lu told reporters that the caucus believed its proposal would be more appropriate than other proposed amendments.
However, DPP caucus whip Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) accused the KMT caucus of playing on words and blurring the focus of the beef controversy. Wang said different caucuses had agreed to prohibit “risky” products during their prior negotiation sessions, adding that the DPP would do whatever it could to boycott the KMT caucus’ proposal.
Legislators agreed last Tuesday to push through relevant amendments by next Tuesday to ban “risky” beef products after the DPP paralyzed a number of plenary sessions in a bid to protest against the Department of Health’s relaxation of US beef import regulations.
Under the terms of the protocol signed by the US and Taiwan, US bone-in beef, ground beef, bovine intestines, brains, spinal cords and processed beef from cattle younger than 30 months that have not been contaminated with “specific risk materials” will be allowed into Taiwan beginning next Tuesday.
In response to criticism, the government last Monday said it would use administrative means to block the import of ground beef and bovine intestines.
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