The level of ractopamine residue in meat products is regulated by international food safety standards, so people should not worry about imports of US pork containing the additive, former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday.
Chen made the remarks in response to media queries on the sidelines of the International Medical Forum at Taipei Medical University.
“The government has set food safety standards according to international norms... So, people do not have to worry about food safety,” he said.
Photo: Yang Chin-cheng, Taipei Times
The issue of US pork and beef imports has been a problem for about two decades, and now that it has been resolved, people should accept the policy to facilitate Taiwan-US trade relations, he added.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday announced that Taiwan would ease restrictions on US beef and pork imports, and set standards for ractopamine residue in pork products in an effort to negotiate a trade deal with the US.
The announcement sparked opposition from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and pig farmers, who raised concerns over its possible negative health effects.
Some local government leaders, including those in Taichung and Yunlin County, said that they would use self-government ordinances to continue implementing a zero-tolerance ban on pork containing ractopamine residue.
Self-government ordinances in Changhua and Hsinchu counties, as well as a few other cities and counties, ban pork containing ractopamine residue.
Chen said the central and local governments need to communicate more on the issue.
Separately yesterday, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) wrote on Facebook that during his presidency he “repeatedly faced political pressure from the US to allow US beef and pork” imports, adding that his successors, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Tsai, probably did as well.
Chen Shui-bian said he only allowed imports of US beef that was deboned and came from cattle under 30 months old.
As for beef with bones and internal organs, as well as beef and pork from animals over 30 months old, he said “no” to the US, citing scientific evidence and public health concerns, he said.
Chen Shui-bian quoted former American Institute in Taiwan director Stephen Young as saying that the issue of US beef is not one of science or health, but rather a political one.
He said that the US kept pressuring him even toward the end of his second term, when he was acting as the head of a “caretaker government” and could no longer make major decisions.
Chen Shui-bian said that he asked Young to ask Ma, who was then president-elect, whether himself and Ma could share the responsibility and make a joint announcement.
However, Ma was unwilling, Chen Shui-bian said, adding that after Ma assumed office, he was still “forced” to make the decision to allow imports.
The easing of restrictions on US beef and pork imports might, as Tsai said on Friday, be an “important starting point” for comprehensive Taiwan-US economic cooperation and promote Taiwan-US relations, Chen Shui-bian said.
“What Tsai Ing-wen did not say was that she could no longer resist the political pressure from the US,” he added.
STRONG RELATIONSHIPS: China would not blockade Taiwan, because President Xi respects him, and Russia would not have invaded if he were president, he said Former US president and the Republican candidate in next month’s presidential election Donald Trump said he would impose additional tariffs on China if China were to “go into Taiwan,” the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. “I would say: If you go into Taiwan, I’m sorry to do this, I’m going to tax you, at 150 percent to 200 percent,” Trump was quoted as saying in an interview with the WSJ published on Friday. Asked if he would use military force against a blockade on Taiwan by China, Trump said it would not come to that because Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) respected
The Taipei Department of Transportation discouraged YouBike 2.0E users from taking them on long-distance trips after a Taipei city councilor said that riders often use the new electric bike, YouBike 2.0E, to climb Yangmingshan (陽明山). Taipei earlier this year began offering the first 30 minutes of YouBike 2.0 rentals for free, with Taipei and New Taipei offering the YouBike 2.0E on Aug. 30 to encourage rider usage. For YouBike 2.0, the rate is NT$10 per 30 minutes within the first four hours, NT$20 per 30 minutes for five to eight hours and NT$40 per 30 minutes after eight hours. Meanwhile, for e-bikes,
RESOURCE RICH: Taiwan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and has up to 30 gigawatts of the potential energy, of which 10 gigawatts could be economically viable Academia Sinica and CPC Corp yesterday began drilling the nation’s first deep geothermal well in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山). The 4km-deep well is expected to take 18 months to complete and has an estimated investment of NT$337 million (US$10.54 million), Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said. “While Taiwan has up to 30 gigawatts of potential deep geothermal energy, with an estimated 10 gigawatts being economically viable, only by digging wells can we determine the actual amount of commercially viable geothermal energy,” Liao said at the project’s opening ceremony. Data collected during and after the excavation process would be used for future
HACKERS’ MARKET: Chat logs about Taiwan and documents outlining ways to take over online accounts were leaked from a company that sells data from hacks Taiwanese cybersecurity specialists found 577 leaked documents which show that the Chinese Communist Party is engaging in “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan through cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, a documentary released last month by Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed. The filmmakers behind Tracking China’s Leaked Documents said they spent six months visiting seven countries, including Taiwan, where they interviewed members of TeamT5, a malware research and cybersecurity firm, which found the leaked documents. TeamT5 said they discovered a string of mysterious URLs on the social media platform X, which they suspected could be accounts created by hackers or people who leaked data, which led