Despite conflicting reports, the last-minute postponement of a visit by US Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez last week might be linked to Taipei’s restrictions on the import of US beef containing the feed additive ractopamine, according to an editorial piece that appeared in the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei’s (AmCham) magazine.
During his week-long tour in Asia to boost US exports and strengthen partnerships in the region, Sanchez visited Tokyo on March 1 and Hanoi on Wednesday before concluding his trip.
Sanchez’s planned visit to Taiwan from last Sunday to Tuesday was called off on March 1 due to “unforeseen circumstance” when he was already in Japan.
The announcement came days after the Executive Yuan told lawmakers opposing the lifting of the ban on imports of US beef containing traces of ractopamine that it would not allow the imports without the legislature’s consent.
His visit was postponed indefinitely, and reasons for the postponement remain unclear.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) spokesperson Christopher Kavanagh said yesterday that he “had no further information” and disagreed with the media’s interpretation that it was a show of US impatience with Taiwan over the ractopamine issue.
“[The postponement] was due to unforeseen rescheduling issues,” Kavanagh said.
However, the chamber said in the editorial of its latest Taiwan Business Topics magazine that it was possible that the visit was postponed because of the beef issue.
“Although AmCham is not privy to any inside information on the reason for Sanchez’s change in plans, the media explanation certainly seems to be the most likely,” the chamber said in the editorial of its latest Taiwan Business Topics magazine.
As the highest-ranking US Department of Commerce official to come to Taiwan in a decade, “Sanchez’s presence would also have been a concrete affirmation of the continuing solidity of the bilateral relationship,” it said.
“It would be understandable if the ‘unforeseen circumstances’ were the likelihood that the positive messages of the visit for US-Taiwan economic cooperation would be lost amid angry protest demonstrations staged by hog farmers and others,” it said.
It said the postponement “points up the increasingly deleterious impact that failure to resolve the beef dispute may have on Taiwan’s relations with the United States,” adding: “Many influential members of [US] Congress and executive-branch officials, including some who were previously among Taiwan’s closest supporters in Washington, are furious over this government’s handling of the issue.”
The Executive Yuan declared it was leaning toward conditionally lifting the ban on Monday night, four days after the visit was announced to have been canceled.
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