The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday began a nationwide drive to drum up support for its proposed referendum to ban imports of US meat products containing ractopamine.
While attending events in Taipei and New Taipei City, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) wore a shirt featuring a pink skull and the text “no ractopamine pork” in Chinese characters.
Joined by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Chiang shouted slogans and said that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was “going against the international trend” on the importation of meat containing ractopamine and “turning her back on public opinion.”
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The leanness-enhancing additive is banned for use in pigs in Taiwan due to health safety concerns.
Tsai on Aug. 28 announced that the government would set maximum residue limits for ractopamine in pork, allowing it to be imported from the US, satisfying a key US demand to begin talks on a trade deal.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) on Saturday last week unveiled the ministry’s residue limits for US pork containing the additive, which are scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1 next year.
Chiang said that the KMT would submit a petition for a referendum to prevent the importation of US pork as a response to Tsai’s use of an executive order to lift the ban.
“Take charge of your own health, and take charge of your own food safety,” Chiang said, in a bid to spur public support.
“Meat should not have anything added to it that is harmful to your body. Let us protect Taiwanese pork,” he said.
Ma said that about 60 percent of US pork is produced without the use of ractopamine, as the US hopes to sell it to markets in Europe, Russia and China.
“Tsai says that critics of her lifting the ban do not understand global trends, but it is she who does not understand the trends. Out of 197 countries worldwide, 160 do not use ractopamine,” Ma said.
About 60 percent of Taiwanese are opposed to importing such meat, he said.
“It’s not that we reject all US pork, we only reject imports that contain ractopamine,” he said.
Referring to Tsai as a “dictator,” Ma added: “Who did she consult with before lifting the ban on US pork?”
The KMT hopes to act quickly on the petition to have the proposed referendum ready for Aug. 28 next year, the next possible date for a referendum, Chiang said, adding that it aims to submit the first-stage petition to the Central Election Commission in the next few days.
“We hope our referendum will not get stalled by the commission, and that it will let us quickly move on to the second stage,” he said.
The referendum proposal asks: “Do you agree to a total ban on the importation of pork and related products containing leanness enhancing additives (ractopamine and other beta agonists)?”
Under the Referendum Act (公民投票法), referendums can take place every two years.
The act stipulates that a number equal to 1.5 percent of the voters in the most recent presidential election — about 289,000 people based on the turnout in January — must sign a petition for a national referendum to be held.
There were 19,311,105 eligible voters in the Jan. 11 presidential election, according to data from the CEC.
Additional reporting by Ho Yu-hua and CNA
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators