The Executive Yuan last night denied that Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) has approved Minister of Agriculture Chen Chi-chung’s (陳吉仲) resignation over controversies surrounding imported eggs.
Cabinet spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) was responding to media queries over rumors that Chen has tendered his resignation several times, and that the premier had not approved it until yesterday.
Chen offered a verbal resignation, but the premier asked the minister to stay in his post, as he has the responsibility to continue to address public doubts surrounding imported eggs, Lin said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
A slew of controversies concerning eggs imported from Brazil have risen in recent weeks. The eggs were part of a special egg importation program introduced by the ministry to address a nationwide shortage earlier this year.
The eggs imported from Brazil were found to have been mislabeled with an incorrect expiration date, and egg shipments from Brazil were found to contain florfenicol and chloramphenicol residues.
Chen has held two press conferences this month to address the issue. He said that the government had monitored the imported eggs closely and members of the public did not need to worry about purchasing expired or broken eggs.
A total of 140 million eggs were imported to Taiwan from March to July, and 24.91 million have been sold to markets and around 54.04 million were either broken or destroyed due to mislabeled expiration dates, the Ministry of Agriculture said.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
LEISURE: The new law adds Confucius’ birthday, the anniversary of the Battle of Guningtou, Constitution Day and Little New Year as national holidays The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed new legislation adding four national holidays and making Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party used their combined majority in the legislature to push the jointly proposed draft through its third and final reading. This new law supersedes the existing regulations for the implementation of memorial days and state holidays, which are administered by the Ministry of the Interior. The new law recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the anniversary of the Battle of Guningtou on Oct. 25, Constitution Day on Dec. 25 and “Little New Year,”
RSS