Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團) yesterday said it would withdraw from the oil-manufacturing market and donate NT$3 billion (US$98.65 million) to the government to atone for the food safety scandal.
The group made the announcement following days of turmoil caused by its subsidiary Cheng I Food Co Ltd (正義) after it added oils meant for animal feed to its cooking oil products.
“Under the current sentiment to boycott Ting Hsin, no matter what we do we understand it would not be enough to regain the trust of the public,” Wei Ying-chiao (魏應交) — chairman of Ting Hsin International Group — told a press conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
He said the group had decided to close its oil-manufacturing businesses in Taiwan and take full responsibility for the latest cooking oil scandal, pledging to fully refund and compensate consumers for any damage caused.
The Wei family has invited Taiwanese tycoon Samuel Yin (尹衍樑) to lead a new food safety committee set up by the group, hoping that Yin and other professionals can objectively evaluate the nation’s food safety loopholes as a way to revive public confidence in Ting Hsin, Wei Ying-chiao said.
“After the establishment of the committee, Ting Hsin will have more time to deal with its own management problems,” Yin told the press conference, without elaborating.
Photo: CNA
Yin is chairman of Ruentex Group (潤泰集團), the operator of RT-Mart (大潤發) hypermarkets in Taiwan and China. His business interests range from textiles, construction and retail sales to life insurance.
Wei Ying-chun (魏應充), former chairman of Cheng I, Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co (頂新製油實業) and Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品工業), was also present at the press conference, but he did not say a word.
After the press conference, Wei Ying-chun was taken to the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning.
Prosecutors have listed Wei Ying-chun as a suspect in the scandal.
Wei Ying-chun arrived at the office in Changhua at about 8:40pm last night and was taken through a back door by officials.
Earlier yesterday, authorities conducted searches at Ting Hsin’s headquarters in Taipei 101, at the company’s product testing facilities and properties owned by the Wei family.
Coordinated by the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office, officials from local district prosecutors’ offices searched the offices of Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品) in Taipei, the company’s food research center in Hsichih District (汐止), New Taipei City, the company’s food product analysis and testing center and Wei’s residence in the luxury condo complex The Palace (帝寶) in Taipei.
Prosecutors took away several cartons of evidence. Among the documents seized were the accounts of Wei Chuan Foods, along with sales orders and purchase receipts, officials said.
During the search at Wei Chuan Foods, Changhua prosecutors briefly questioned a number of high-level executives to clarify details related to the food scandal.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS