Faced with domestic concerns about the safety of US beef and pressure from Washington on US beef imports, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) held a closed-door meeting on Friday night with Cabinet officials and explored ways to resolve the matter.
However, the three-hour meeting failed to yield a new strategy. Presidential Office spokesman Fan Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) said the president reiterated the government’s neutral stance on handling the US beef import issue, saying there was no timetable and no presumptions, adding that the government would respect professional opinions from experts while making public health a top priority.
For analysts, the Ma administration’s indecisiveness shows its political opportunism in handling the issue, which could have serious consequences if the government fails to resolve the disputes in a timely manner.
Political critic Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) of National Dong Hwa University said the Ma administration underestimated public concerns over the health risk of the feed additive used in US beef when it promised Washington to resolve the issue soon, and any attempts to prove that ractopamine posed no harm to the human body would fail as the issue carried political implications.
“Politics and diplomacy are involved in the US beef import issue. Handling such a delicate issue is a great challenge for Ma and he and the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] will pay a price if he ignores domestic opposition against the importation of US beef and succumbs to US pressure,” he said.
Washington has been pressing Taipei to relax its ban on imported meat containing ractopamine residue, which was imposed in 2006. The US extended the suspension of talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) between the two sides after Taiwan blocked shipments of US beef containing residue of the lean-meat enhancing additive last year.
Soon after his re-election in -January, Ma sat down with -American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt in Taipei and promised that the new Cabinet would address the US beef import issue after re-assuming office last month.
The meeting sparked speculation about the government’s attempt to ease its ractopamine residue ban as a result of US pressure, especially as Taiwan seeks to proceed with the TIFA talks with the US while seeking to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The postponement of a visit to Taipei by US Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez, who was -scheduled to arrive yesterday, is said to be a latest move from the US to put more pressure on the Ma administration to address the matter.
Facing mounting concerns about the health risks of the feed additive, KMT legislators joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in opposing the imports of US beef.
Even former Department of Health minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) said it was unlikely that the expert meeting on the effect of ractopamine on the human body could reach a conclusion and it would be “unwise” for Ma if he succumbed to US pressure and forcefully lifted the ban on the use of ractopamine in meat products.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS