The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday held rival news conferences, accusing each other of inciting violence at public hearings on food imports from five Japanese prefectures amid fears of radiation contamination after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster.
Between Saturday and yesterday, the government convened 10 public hearings on the issue across the nation.
However, some of the hearings witnessed rowdy protesters engaging in physical altercations, in some cases requiring the police to restore order. A table was flipped over at a hearing in Yunlin and several people wearing black clothes stormed into rooms where hearings were being held in Yunlin County and Kaohsiung.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The DPP and KMT caucuses yesterday accused each other of inciting or participating in the violence to sabotage the hearings.
DPP Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said KMT politicians conspired to “simultaneously convene and disrupt the hearings,” and accused them of attempting to cause panic by spreading false information.
DPP Legislator Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said KMT headquarters and its local chapters mobilized supporters to storm the hearings, adding that in some cases KMT-led crowds began protesting and insulting government officials even before the hearings began.
The government has not changed its safety standards to accommodate Japanese food imports nor would any food products Japanese authorities consider unsafe for commercial sale be granted import licenses for the Taiwanese market, DPP Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said.
Meanwhile, KMT lawmakers at their news conference said that the government arranged the public hearings hastily to shield the import process from public scrutiny, adding that DPP politicians were responsible for the appearance of “black-clad men” at the hearings, who interrupted the proceedings and assaulted their opponents.
KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) called the public hearings “illegitimate,” citing the failure of the authorities to mention the nuclear disaster, follow due process when convening the hearings, or to invite credible experts or civic groups.
DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) in a Facebook post contradicted her fellow DPP lawmakers, calling the scheduling of the hearings in a three-day period “perfunctory,” adding that the nation’s safety inspection capabilities are not adequate to ensure that food imports from Japan’s affected prefectures are safe for consumers.
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