The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday rolled out two campaign videos in a last-ditch effort to trumpet the party’s achievements in cross-strait ties and censure Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) alleged stance on US pork imports containing ractopamine residue.
One of the videos, titled The Voices of Grassroots Workers, features a number of Taiwanese working in the fishing and tourism industries.
They said their living conditions have improved because of the growth of tourism in the nation over the past years and that their livelihoods have been saved by the 2010 signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
Photo: CNA
“You will never know how good the old is until the new comes,” Tainan City’s Yu-Ching District Farmers’ Association secretary-general Huang Cheng-ching (黃澄清) said in the film.
The other campaign video, titled The Voices of Pig Farmers, depicts a pig farmer, surnamed Lai (賴), from Taichung, who said he is non-partisan and opposes the idea of letting US pork imports with ractopamine residue jeopardize people’s health.
“These two videos show the achievements the KMT has made during its tenure,” KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday morning.
Lin said that the number of tourists to the nation has surged from 2 million people to 10 million since the KMT regained power in 2008, with about 35 percent of them coming from China.
Despite its relatively small size, Taiwan has set its sights on being a popular travel destination, Lin said.
“With this goal in mind, many Taiwanese have invested in relevant businesses, such as tour bus proprietors and drivers. Since it would take a long time for them to see returns on their investments, they worry about the nation’s future,” Lin said.
Lin said there are 18 types of agricultural and aquatic products in the ECFA’s early harvest list that have been granted zero tariffs since 2013.
Many Taiwanese products have profited as a result, but none of that would have been possible without cross-strait peace and stability in the past eight years, Lin said.
On the issue of US pork imports, Lin said the KMT has maintained an unwavering stance to separate permits for importing beef and pork from the US.
“However, during a televised presidential debate, Tsai expressed an inclination to allow US pork products containing ractopamine residue to enter the nation. Her remarks have unnerved many pig farmers and health-conscious people,” Lin said.
Lin urged voters to cast their ballots for KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) for the sake of the nation’s and their own futures.
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