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.
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