A group of farmers protested the government's low purchase price for rice crops at the Legislative Yuan and the Council of Agriculture yesterday.
About 150 farmers, most of them older than 50, gathered in front of the Legislative Yuan in the morning while the legislature was holding a public hearing on the price of the crops.
"Two kilos of rice is selling for less than a packet of cigarettes. Half a kilo is not worth a marinated egg," the farmers shouted outside the Legislative Yuan.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The protest was organized by the Chaiyi Farmers Fighting For Existence Self-help Association. Situated on the fertile Chianan Plain, or "Taiwan's rice barn." Chaiyi County is a major agricultural region.
The government has been purchasing the crops and encouraging the farmers to stop cultivating rice at the same time.
They have asked farmers to grow something else, or switch to other jobs.
The farmers, however, do not appreciate the government's policy of terminating cultivation and insisted that the government should subsidize them with more money.
The farmers yesterday appealed to the government to purchase their rice crops at a price related to the growing cost, which they said amounted to NT$23 a kilogram. The government is paying them NT$16.6 per kilogram.
"With the current subsidies farmers would lose more than NT$26,000 per acre, instead of earning any money from their work," said Chan Chao-li (詹朝立), the organizer of a planned march for farmers and fishermen scheduled for Nov. 23.
"The current policy to encourage farmers to stop cultivation would just lead to a dead end. We are only asking the government to purchase the crops at the growing cost to allow the farmers to survive," said Yang Tsung-yao (楊宗耀), chairman of the self-help association.
Meanwhile, the public hearing taking place inside the Legislative Yuan was equally heated.
The farmers' representatives argued with Council of Agriculture officials, shouting and pounding on their desks.
The representatives accused the administration of failing to understand the farmers' difficult situation.
A threat to vote the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) out of power next year earned a round of applause from the farmers' representatives.
Council of Agriculture Vice Chairman Tai Cheng-yao (
The farmers also went to the Council of Agriculture's offices at noon to further voice their appeals.
Later in the afternoon the council issued a statement saying that it would not consider increasing the subsidy, since this would be in violation of WTO regulations, which stipulate that after joining the WTO a country must cut its domestic agricultural support by 20 percent.
The subsidy for all agricultural products also has to be reduced every year.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS