President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday visited Greater Taichung to check out persimmon prices, buying more than 5,000kg to promote the fruit and to counter the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) claim that fruit prices had plummeted under his watch.
During a visit to the Dongshi (東勢) fruit and vegetable wholesale market, Ma said the DPP’s latest campaign flyer — printed in the format of a calendar in which the party listed 12 types of locally grown fruits whose prices, it said, had plunged to a low of NT$2 to NT$5 per jin (斤, 600g) — has dragged down the market for non-astringent persimmons and citrus fruits as wholesalers and consumers demand to buy the produce at such low prices.
“People who are sending out those calendar flyers should stop because this misleading information about wholesale prices has slowed the sale of locally grown fruit and damaged the livelihoods of farmers,” he said.
Photo: Chan Chao-yang, Taipei Times
Several farmers expressed their concern over fruit prices and urged Ma to make it clear that non-astringent persimmons sell for much more than NT$2 per jin.
Ma said arguing over the fruit prices was no longer the issue.
He promised to take measures to maintain the prices of fruit and other agricultural products, adding that he had instructed the Cabinet to encourage group purchase of locally grown fruit.
“Don’t worry, I am here to help on behalf of the government, and we will make sure that fruits are sold at a good and reasonable price,” he told the farmers.
He also purchased more than 5,000kg of non-astringent persimmons and donated them to charity groups around Greater Taichung.
Ma’s visit came amid heated debate between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the DPP over the price of non-astringent persimmons. While the DPP claimed in the campaign flyer that non-astringent persimmons, for example, were selling for NT$2 per jin, Ma and the KMT said they were selling for about NT$41.50 per jin.
Presidential Office spokesman Fan Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) said Ma visited the wholesale market not to campaign against DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), but to gain a better understanding of the market.
Meanwhile, Ma’s re-election campaign office pressed on with the fruit price debate, saying Tsai and the DPP should apologize for using incorrect information about the wholesale prices of locally grown fruit.
The campaign office’s chief director, Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), said the camp has set up a spokesperson team to immediately respond to or clarify any accusations made by the DPP.
The team is composed of 15 members, including the spokespersons for Ma’s re-election campaign, KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and Taipei City councilors such as Chen Yu-mei (陳玉梅) and Lin Yi-hua (林奕華).
“The set up of the spokesperson team is a declaration of war. We are not launching a war against Tsai or the DPP, but a war against incorrect remarks such as the price of persimmons,” Tseng said.
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