The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday touted its proposed referendum on imports of pork containing traces of ractopamine after accusing the government of using strong-arm tactics to ease meat import regulations.
The members of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration “acted like bullies” by forcing the importation directives through the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-controlled legislature, and when the Executive Yuan annulled local governments’ regulations banning ractopamine in pork, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said at a petition stand in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢).
“The KMT does not believe in letting people eat dubious food products, and that is why former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) separated beef and pork [in import regulations], and banned the import of offal and meat from cattle over 30 months of age” during his presidency, Chiang said.
Photo: CNA
“Competent leaders should be able to resist political pressure to protect public health,” he added.
Passing a referendum has become more difficult after the DPP tightened the limits of the Referendum Act (公民投票法) in 2019, a reversal of its historical stance on the issue, Chiang said.
Referendums have now been decoupled from elections, and referendums are now held every two years on the fourth Saturday of August, with the next possible date being Aug. 28.
The KMT considers the law to be overly stringent and has submitted a proposed referendum to ease the restriction on referendums, in addition to the one on pork containing ractopamine, he said.
On Dec. 18 last year, the Central Election Commission said that the referendum proposal championed by Chiang and another by KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為州) complied with all regulations and could proceed to the second stage.
Chiang’s proposed referendum question would read: “Do you agree that referendums should be held on the same day as nationwide elections, if a nationwide election is scheduled to be held one to six months after a referendum proposal has been approved?”
Lin’s proposed referendum question would read: “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 act, the KMT has six months to collect nearly 290,000 valid signatures, or no less than 1.5 percent of the total electorate in the most recent presidential election.
However, the party is hoping to collect enough by March to have sufficient time to verify the signatures before Aug. 28.
The KMT yesterday launched a nationwide signature drive for its two referendum proposals.
Starting from yesterday, campaigning would take place in each of the 159 electoral districts that are represented by KMT lawmakers and county or city councilors, the party said.
People interested in taking part can download and print the petition free of charge at 7-Eleven stores nationwide using the self-serve ibon machines, the KMT said,
People should select the scan and print function, then the enterprises cloud drive, then ASUS cloud storage, and input ASUS6BIV6MG7S to open and print the file, the party said, adding that the form should be filled out, signed and mailed to the KMT’s headquarters.
The KMT’s official app would provide the locations of the KMT chapters’ liaison offices, elected officials and other partners to whom the petitions could be mailed, it said.
OVERHAUL NEEDED: The government should improve its agricultural processing capabilities and expand to new markets to limit its reliance on China, an expert said China’s ban on Taiwanese pineapples was “unsurprising,” and Taiwan should have years ago altered its produce export strategies and target customers, experts said. China on Friday abruptly suspended imports of pineapples from Taiwan, saying that it had on multiple occasions discovered “harmful biological entities” on the fruit. Calling it an “unfriendly” move, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said that 99.79 percent of the pineapples sent to China since last year have met China’s import standards. Chiao Chun (焦鈞), the author of Fruits and Politics — A Recollection of Cross-strait Agricultural Interaction Over the Past Decade (水果政治學：兩岸農業交流十年回顧與展望), said that China’s announcement is clearly targeting
‘NOT COLD ENOUGH’: Schools are disregarding Premier Su Tseng-chang’s instruction that students may wear out-of-uniform clothing to stay warm, an association said An investigative report revealed that 72.5 percent of the nation’s senior-high schools and 95.6 percent of junior-high schools punish students for wearing unapproved winter clothes in contravention of educational guidelines, lawmakers and student rights advocates said yesterday. Speaking at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan, the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy said there is an endemic disregard for the Ministry of Education’s regulations and that private schools are more likely to contravene ministry rules. The report is a compilation of 2,856 student reports about dress code reinforcement at 425 high schools and vocational high schools, the association said. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌)
DECADES OF INFLUENCE: Over the past 20 years, China has made inroads with Aborigines, funding political campaigns and trips, a legislator said Lawmakers have called on the National Security Bureau to investigate claims of pervasive Chinese influence among Aboriginal communities. Legislators pointed to a surge in communist propaganda and Chinese-funded projects over the past few years, which they say are aimed at infiltrating and buying political influence among Aboriginal communities. “China has for decades carried out wide-ranging ‘united front’ tactics and propaganda campaigns targeting Aborigines,” said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩), a member of the Puyuma community in Taitung County. “Now, they are influencing elections for local councilors and village chiefs, offering money for candidates to mount their campaigns, and to
DISSATISFACTION? If the referendums collect more than 700,000 signatures each, they would have gotten the most signatures in the shortest time, the party said The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) two referendum petitions — one on banning the importation of pork with traces of ractopamine and the other on holding referendums on the same day as national elections — had as of Thursday gathered 691,398 and 674,497 signatures respectively, the party said yesterday. If the petitions collect more than 700,000 signatures apiece, they would have garnered the most signatures in the shortest time since the Referendum Act (公民投票法) was amended in 2017, party officials said. The KMT proposed the “anti-ractopamine pork” or “food safety” referendum just days after President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) announcement on Aug. 28 last
RSS