The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday accused Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of suppressing freedom of speech, after the DPP took legal action against several of the ruling party’s local branches over banners associating Tsai with US pork imports containing the controversial animal feed additive ractopamine.
“Tsai’s attitude toward imports of ractopamine-laced US pork was clearly revealed by her remarks at the first televised presidential debate on Dec. 27, during which she said the nation should use Japan’s and South Korea’s legal standards for the leanness-enhancing feed additive as a reference,” Culture and Communications Committee director-general Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Lin said that the KMT merely printed Tsai’s stance toward the issue on banners, only to see the DPP file lawsuits against the party’s local branches in Yunlin, Changhua and Chiayi counties on charges of aggravated defamation and violating Article 104 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法).
Photo: Lin Liang-che, Taipei Times
Article 104 of the act stipulates that violators face up to five years in prison for disseminating rumors or spreading falsities by text, picture, audio tape, videotape, speech or any other method that causes a candidate to lose an election.
“Despite being only a presidential candidate, Tsai has begun to quell freedom of expression,” Lin said.
Lin was referring to banners manufactured by the local branches that read: “Supporting Tsai Ing-wen is tantamount to supporting the import of US pork containing ractopamine.”
The banners have been seen in various places in the three counties following the TV debate, prompting the DPP to file lawsuits over the past few days.
KMT’s Yunlin County Branch director Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) said the DPP should have taken legal actions against its own chairperson, whose integrity has been called into questions after she took a U-turn from the party’s opposition against imports of ractopamine-tainted US pork in 2012.
“Regardless, it is an honor for the KMT to be sued over its attempts to safeguard Taiwanese pig farmers and the public’s food safety,” Hsu said.
KMT Changhua County branch director Chen Ming-chen (陳明振) said that opening the nation’s doors to US pork containing ractopamine residues would deter women from the tradition of consuming pig’s kidneys after giving birth.
KMT Chiayi County Branch director Yen Wen-cheng (顏文正) said Tsai’s inclination to relax the import ban on US pork with ractopamine could be evidenced by an article penned by Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠) of the DPP in April last year — months before Tsai’s US visit.
“Chang said in the article that the impact of importing US pork on the sales of domestically farmed pork was marginal, remarks that are apparently aimed at keeping in line with Tsai’s policies,” Yen said.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Lee Ming-hsien (李明賢) said that since National Taiwan University College of Public Health associate professor Wu Kun-yuh (吳焜裕), a food safety expert, is on the top of the DPP’s list of legislator-at-large candidates, he should also say something about Tsai’s flip-flopping on the issue.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated