About 100 Tainan residents petitioned President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at the Presidential Office yesterday to launch new negotiations with Washington on imports of US beef — or face a larger protest on Saturday.
Presidential Office press relations officer Huang Ta-chun (黃大鈞) accepted the petition letter and promised to relay the message to Ma. Chanting slogans of “no toxic beef” and “no ECFA,” the protesters, led by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei branch director Huang Ching-lin (黃慶林), gathered outside the Taipei Guest House on Ketagalan Boulevard before some proceeded to the Presidential Office. They held banners that read “refuse toxic US beef, relaunch negotiations, the agreement must pass the legislature,” “oppose ECFA [economic cooperation framework agreement], ensure Taiwan’s sovereignty” and “Ma Ying-jeou, incompetent liar selling out Taiwan.”
Huang Ching-lin demanded Ma step down, saying Ma had failed to keep his promise of sympathizing with the plight of ordinary people.
While the Ma administration is set to sign an ECFA with Beijing, the public has not been told about its content, he said. The government decided to relax restrictions on US beef, but Huang Ching-lin said he would like to know whether it was right to let Taiwanese eat bovine intestines discarded as trash and used as fertilizers by Americans.
Once US beef and beef products without age limit enter the local market, Huang said he was afraid Taiwan would become exposed to mad cow disease. If a case of the disease were discovered, it would deal a significant blow to the agricultural sector, he said.
Criticizing the Presidential Office as the “main culprit” in the controversy, Huang Ching-lin said he doubted whether Ma made the concession in exchange for Washington’s agreement to keep quiet about his green card status.
“We are here to protest against his selfishness which could hurt the health of our children and many more generations to come,” he said.
Wang Chung-chin (王崇欽), executive officer of the DPP Taipei Branch, urged the public to attend Saturday’s rally against US beef, saying they expected to see 300 bus loads of people coming from Tainan and 100 more from Taichung.
Meanwhile, at a separate setting yesterday, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) accused top government officials such as National Security Council chief Su Chi (蘇起) of violating the Constitution by negotiating and activating an international agreement without the legislature’s ratification.
TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said that according to the Grand Justices’ Interpretation No. 329, all international agreements must be ratified by the Legislative Yuan.
Huang Kun-huei said a legislative review is required before any international agreement can be finalized because it represents the people’s right to scrutinize the document prior to its ratification. As such, Huang said the TSU plans ask the Control Yuan to recall Su and other government officials on the grounds they violated the Constitution.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU
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