Protesters yesterday took to the streets in Taipei in support of the international campaign March Against Monsanto, calling on the government to maintain strict regulations on genetically modified organisms (GMO) in foods.
GMO foods will be a critical issue in negotiations on agricultural trade between Taiwan and the US to be held in September, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator said.
The first, US-based, March Against Monsanto in 2013 garnered support from more than 2 million protesters worldwide who protested against the US biotechnological multinational, which produces genetically modified plant species and herbicides.
Tami Canal, the initiator of the movement, has been campaigning to promote organic food production and for the labeling of products containing GMO ingredients.
The Homemakers United Foundation joined the movement yesterday to lead the march, which ended at the Water Garden Organic Farmers’ Market.
“GM foods and 80 percent of the herbicides [used by local farmers] pose health risks,” said Warren Kuo (郭華仁), a professor at National Taiwan University’s Department of Agronomy, adding that Monsanto’s and the US government’s support of GMO foods was scientifically untenable.
Since 2008, Kuo has been working with the foundation, the Green Formosa Front and a few lawmakers to call for regulation of GMO foods.
Their efforts were rewarded in 2015, when the government amended the School Health Act (學校衛生法) to keep genetically modified and heavily processed foods from reaching educational institutions.
Kuo said the government must not bow to pressure from the US, who he said has called for abolishing the ban on GMO foods in schools under the pretext that it constitutes a barrier to trade.
“As long as the US can offer quality soy beans at a reasonable price, we are willing to purchase them. There is no such thing as a trade barrier,” he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said the government would likely be pressured on the issue of GMO foods and meat products containing ractopamine during the negotiations in September, adding that people should work together to let the US know Taiwanese do not want these things, and that she would raise the issues again in the Legislative Yuan on May 31.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
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