The importation of pork containing the feed additive ractopamine is not about politics, and legislators will be held accountable by the public and by history when they vote on the executive order covering the lifting of the ban on such imports, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday.
Pork products with traces of ractopamine and food safety are “public issues, not political issues,” Chiang said on the sidelines of an event in Hualien County after reporters asked him if the KMT had planned any strategies on handling the vote planned for this week in the Legislative Yuan.
Public opposition to the government’s decision to allow imports of US pork containing ractopamine residue has remained strong since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced on Aug. 28 that the government would ease the ban, he said.
Photo: CNA
People’s health should not be used as a bargaining chip, he added.
When members of the Legislative Yuan vote, they would be representing public opinion, not themselves, Chiang said.
Urging lawmakers to consider public opinion and concerns voiced by the public, he said that when they vote, they must be “accountable to history and to the people.”
“Many people joined the ‘Autumn Struggle’ march on Nov. 22, but the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] chooses not to see or hear [them],” Chiang said later in the day, reiterating plans for the KMT to take to the streets of Taipei again this week.
While the KMT has fewer votes in the legislature than the DPP, DPP lawmakers should “stand on the side of public opinion,” he said.
The KMT would also begin collecting a second round of signatures for its two referendum proposals — one on when referendums are held, and the second on the importation of pork, pig offal and other products containing ractopamine, he said.
“If [the legislature] cannot block [the policy], we will use the people’s votes to block it,” he said.
The Central Election Commission on Friday announced that the two proposals could advance to the second stage of gathering signatures.
Also on Friday, cross-caucus negotiations reached a consensus that the legislature on Thursday would review nine administrative directives related to allowing US imports of pork containing ractopamine residue, and a vote on the nine directives is expected.
KMT caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) on Saturday announced that the KMT caucus would stage two rallies in front of the Legislative Yuan’s Chun-hsien Building — on Wednesday evening and Thursday — to protest the government’s decision to lift the ban on the importation of US pork with ractopamine residue.
A large screen would be erected at the rally site to allow participants to watch a live broadcast of the legislative vote, Lin added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
A senior US senator on Monday questioned the willingness of some US allies to help defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. Although Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) expects the US and Japan to respond in a war in the Taiwan Strait, he was “a little less confident what our other allies would do,” US Senator John Cornyn said. Australia and New Zealand have voiced support for Taiwan, but it “is a far cry from committing troops to repel an invasion,” Cornyn said during a discussion on China, Russia and the state of US military readiness at a forum hosted
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the
RSS