Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Mach Ngoc Tran (麥玉珍) yesterday apologized for hiding cuttings of dragon fruit inside her luggage to plant them at her family home in Vietnam decades ago, which officials said was illegal.
Mach related the story on Wednesday during an event in Taichung’s Fongyuan District (豐原) organized by the Ministry of Agriculture to mark the first batch of red dragon fruit export to Japan.
After lawmakers and agriculture officials said it is illegal to export plants, fruits and seeds without government approval, Mach apologized at a legislative meeting yesterday.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
“Now I know what I did was wrong, and hope people would not contravene the law like I did,” she said. “That was about 30 years ago. At the time I was not aware of the prohibition and I would not do so now, knowing it is against the law.”
“I have also received messages asking for help, because when migrant workers and new residents come to Taiwan, unaware of the prohibition, they often carry many different items that are seized by customs, which might cause them to be denied entry,” Mach added.
Mach said she was reminded by party colleagues to be more prudent when making public comments.
Vice Premier Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) said at the event that it took eight years of diligent effort by stakeholders to enable the first shipment of red dragon fruit to Japan.
A lot of work was needed to ensure stable and high-quality production to pass Tokyo’s tests, she added.
“Taiwan is known as a ‘fruit kingdom’... My kids love to eat red dragon fruit,” she said.
“It has been a difficult journey of eight years, but we are ready to share the fruit with our Japanese friends. This is an important milestone and it can boost our friendly relations with Japan, a major export market for Taiwanese agricultural products,” she added.
When it was Mach’s turn to speak, she told a story about her taking cuttings of dragon fruit from Taiwan to Vietnam.
“Back in my hometown in Vietnam, my family has a 10-hectare farm for growing coffee, fruits and other produce. In Vietnam, we used to only have white dragon fruit. After coming to Taiwan, I was delighted with the sweet-tasting red dragon fruit,” she said. “So I made cuttings of red dragon fruit cactus and put it inside my luggage when I took a flight back to Vietnam to grow it at my family farm.”
Her remarks immediately drew a backlash as a lot of people in the audience knew it is illegal to export Taiwanese fruits and seeds without government approval.
“The variety could not adapt to conditions in Vietnam, and we could not grow it there,” Mach later said.
“I have found that Taiwanese fruits and vegetables are very tasty, and I always promote them at international events,” she said. “Everyone should help promote it to all parts of the world.”
Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said that Mach might have been joking.
“Or maybe it did happen, but I urge people to know that cultivars and seeds came from the painstaking efforts of our farmers. We must protect our leading edge in fruit production, and must not take Taiwan-produced seeds and cultivars to other countries,” Chen said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) said that the TPP legislator contravened Article 51 of the Plant Variety and Plant Seed Act (植物品種及種苗法), which includes a maximum fine of NT$2.5 million (US$76,970).
Mach later on Wednesday apologized, saying that as a new resident of Taiwan, she was not familiar with the law at the time.
“I offer my sincere apology on this matter, and am grateful for people’s understanding and acceptance,” she said. “My intention was to use my own experience to remind people to abide by the regulations.”
Mach became a naturalized citizen after marrying a Taiwanese man in 1994, settling in Changhua County. She later divorced him, citing domestic violence.
She worked as a Vietnamese-language interpreter for local police and government agencies, and later founded associations for new residents from Southeast Asia, China and other countries.
Born in Bien Hoa Province, Vietnam, Mach said her family members are farmers there.
TPP included her in the party’s legislator-at-large list before the Jan. 13 election citing her advocacy for new residents and migrants. She has been serving as a legislator since February.
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
Democratic nations should refrain from attending China’s upcoming large-scale military parade, which Beijing could use to sow discord among democracies, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) said. China is scheduled to stage the parade on Wednesday next week to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event is expected to mobilize tens of thousands of participants and prominently showcase China’s military hardware. Speaking at a symposium in Taichung on Thursday, Shen said that Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi.