Thousands protest US beef imports
　

NOT MINCING HER WORDS: Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen said the government should renegotiate or step down and let the opposition do it
　

By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Nov 15, 2009, Page 1
　

Wearing headbands with the words “no to poisonous beef” and “no to deception,” thousands of people took to the streets of Taipei yesterday afternoon to voice their opposition to the government’s decision to lift a ban on US bone-in beef and beef organs, and urge the government to renegotiate the agreement.

Demonstrators from all over the country started to gather at the assembly point near Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station hours before the official start of the march.

The demonstration was organized by the Tainan County Government and several civic groups, including the Taiwan Labour Front, the Taiwan Association of University Professors and the Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan, in reaction to the lifting of the ban on imports of bone-in beef, beef organs and ground beef from the US.

After the government had been negotiating with the US on the issue for about two years, the Department of Health announced on Oct. 23 that it had signed a protocol with the US that would allow bone-in beef, ground beef, bovine intestines, brains, spinal cords and processed beef from cattle younger than 30 months that have not been contaminated with “specific risk materials” (SRM) to be imported.
　

“Whether to lift the ban [on certain US beef parts] is a public health issue that should have been fully debated by the public before a decision was made,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the crowd before the march began at 2:30pm.

“The government never talked about it with the legislature, the opposition or the public — we only knew about it after the government had signed an agreement with the US. That violates the principles of democracy and transparency,” she said.

Tsai cited a resolution passed by the legislature in January 2006 stating that the government should consult with and gain approval from the legislature before lifting the ban on US beef parts.

“We are demonstrating to ask for one thing — that the beef deal be renegotiated,” Tsai said.

“If they [the government] cannot do it, they should step down and let us do it,” she said.

Since the announcement on Oct. 23, the government has faced an uphill battle persuading a skeptical public on the safety of US beef, with leading consumer groups and opposition politicians pushing for a referendum on reimposing the beef-on-the-bone import ban.

National Security Council ­Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) earlier this month apologized for poor communication before the lifting of the ban and the Executive Yuan pledged that it would tighten inspections and effectively block ground beef and bovine intestines by changing import inspection rules. Ground beef and intestine imports will have to be thawed for examination (ruining them in the process) and any shipments mixed with bone-in beef would be destroyed, the government said.

The unconvinced demonstrators shouted slogans and called for renegotiation, while march organizers explained through loudspeakers to the crowd and passers-by that they were against lifting the ban because bone-in beef and beef organs were more likely to carry prion, the infectious agent of mad cow disease that is composed mostly of protein.

“If you think you’ll be safe because you don’t eat beef, you’re wrong — when prion enters the food chain, it may also contaminate pork and even the soil,” a demonstrator said. “So you may be infected with mad cow disease even if you’re a vegetarian.”

The 32-year-old user of online social networking service Plurk.com, Lin Jung-cheng (林融政), was among a group of about a dozen plurkers from Taipei, Taichung and Tainan taking part in the march.

“Of course we’re worried about the safety of US beef, but we’re more upset that the government signed the agreement [to lift the ban] without telling the public first,” Lin said. “We’re quite suspicious about what the government has gained from the US in return.”

A woman surnamed Lai (賴) in her 50s took her 10-year-old grandson, dressed in a cow costume, with her to the march.

She said she didn’t care if she was infected with mad cow disease since she’s lived a full life, “but I must take part in the protest for the sake of my grandchildren and their grandchildren.”

Tang Kao Hsuan-feng (唐高炫風) drew a lot of attention for wearing his camouflage army uniform and holding a large Republic of China flag.

“I voted for [President] Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] and was a big supporter, but that doesn’t mean that I should pretend that I don’t see when he makes mistakes, because I know what’s wrong and what’s right,” Tang Kao said. “Ma should renegotiate the beef agreement because US beef threatens the health of Taiwanese.”

Former DPP legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), on the other hand, urged the public to call on elected representatives to support a proposed amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) scheduled for review in the legislature on Thursday that would block imports of some US beef parts.

‘Taiwan’s friend’ James Lilley passes away aged 81
　

By J. Michael Cole
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Nov 15, 2009, Page 1

James Lilley, American Institute in Taiwan director from 1981 to 1984, died in Washington on Thursday from complications related to prostate cancer. He was 81.

In his long career with the US government, Lilley also served as US ambassador to South Korea from 1986 to 1989, and to China from 1989 to 1991.

Prior to entering the diplomatic field, Lilley worked at the CIA for 27 years, which he joined in 1951. His postings at the agency included China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Laos, Taiwan, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

When the US opened its liaison office in Beijing in 1971, Lilley became the first “declared” US intelligence official in China and the CIA’s first station chief in the capital.

Lilley, who later also came to be known as Li Jieming (李潔明), was born in Qingdao, Shandong, in 1928, where his father and role model, Frank Lilley, worked as a salesman for Standard Oil.

In 2004, Lilley published his memoir China Hands, which eloquently described his formative childhood in China, his years as a CIA operative and the power struggles between China, Taiwan and the US, including his first-hand experience of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

After his ambassadorship in Beijing, Lilley became a forceful — and public — proponent of greater US support for Taiwan, efforts that he continued after being appointed assistant secretary of defense for international affairs from 1991 to 1993. He often clashed with the US Department of State over arms sales to Taiwan, arguing that it would be unwise to grant Beijing the cutoff date that it sought.

Expressing her condolences to the family on Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called him “one of our nation’s finest diplomats.”

In its obituary, the Washington Post described Lilley as “one of the most pragmatic voices on the modern Sino-American relationship.”

In a statement on Friday, former US president George H.W. Bush, who was close to Lilley, described him as “a most knowledgeable and effective ambassador who served with great honor and distinction.”

In a statement, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) said Lilley had made many contributions to and spoken for Taiwan’s interests.

“His death is Taiwan’s loss,” he said.

Lien Chan meets with Hu Jintao in Singapore
　

SUMMIT MEETING: The Chinese president told Ma Ying-jeou’s APEC summit envoy that talks on a proposed ECFA would begin before the year is out

AGENCIES , SINGAPORE
Sunday, Nov 15, 2009, Page 1

Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) promised Taiwan’s APEC envoy Lien Chan (連戰) that talks on a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) would start this year.

“We should continue to follow the approach of putting aside difficult issues and making economic issues the priority in advancing the cross-strait consultation,” Xinhua news agency quoted Hu as saying.

Both sides should “strive to launch the consultation process for a cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement this year,” Hu added.

According to sources, Hu made the promise to Lien during a one-hour meeting at the St Regis Hotel on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Singapore, during which Hu and Lien addressed each other as “General Secretary Hu” and “Chairman Lien.”

Lien, a former Taiwanese vice president, was named by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as his proxy for the APEC summit. Taiwan has been unable to send the president to the APEC summit since 1993 because of Beijing’s opposition.

Taiwanese government officials have said they hope the agreement would be signed by early next year. Although details have not been revealed, it would allow the two sides to enjoy tariff-free trade with each other on many products.

Hu, who was first to speak at the meeting yesterday, was cited as saying the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should seize the opportunity to build peace and expand their development horizons.

Lien hailed the noticeable improvement in cross-strait relations over the past year and thanked China for allowing the number of Chinese visitors to Taiwan to significantly increase. He also expressed gratitude for Chinese delegations’ large-scale procurements of Taiwanese products this year, as well as for Chinese donations to the victims of Typhoon Morakot.

Lien said it was the responsibility of both sides to create a win-win situation and that he appreciated “Hu’s support in this regard.”
　

Much more land is contaminated
　

By Vincent Y. Chao
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Nov 15, 2009, Page 2

“We only started to suspect that the duck farm was polluted after passing it on the way to conduct another pollution analysis.”— Huang Huan-chang, environmental activist

The recent media spotlight on ducks contaminated with toxic chemicals from steel slag dumped at a site in Kaohsiung County has prompted the central government and local government agencies to step up checks and start investigations over other possibly polluted locations left behind by the county’s steel industry.

While these measures promise to clear up the problem, critics said the real culprits have yet to be caught, while the corporations behind the pollution haven’t been found, adding that there may be more polluted locations that haven’t been checked.

There is a problem with all ducks that were raised on a polluted farm in Daliao Township (大寮), Kaohsiung County, that was closed by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) on Nov. 7. EPA officials culled 9,000 ducks there on Wednesday, but critics said all ducks that were raised on the site prior to that were also contaminated.

Environmental groups led by Huang Huan-chang (黃煥彰), an environmental activist and the organizer of an environmental protection program at Tainan Community University who tipped off investigators about the polluted farm, said they had seen ducks on the farm since 2006.

Huang said he brought officials from the EPA to the farm on July 22, more than two weeks before operators said they began raising ducks.

After showing reporters picture evidence, Huang said that he “absolutely guarantees that the ducks have [been sold] on the marketplace” despite the farm operator’s denial.

However, the problem isn’t with the farm owners that have allegedly been sold chemical-tainted ducks on the market, Huang said, adding that it seems their denial that they knew the land was contaminated when they rented it from Uni-President Enterprises was likely to be true.

Instead, the problem is how to clean all the polluted land in Daliao, he said. Huang, who has long taken an interest in contaminated land, said another list of polluted locations would soon be released.

Land contamination comes from improper disposal of hazardous waste or in the duck farm’s case — the illegal dumping of steel furnace slag and foundry ash. These pollutants come from factories and plants that produce waste by the truckloads and then ask disposal companies to haul it away, often turning a blind eye in the process, said Chao Jui-kuang (晁瑞光), environmental and natural sciences manager at Tainan Community University.

Chao worked with Huang in investigating other locations contaminated by furnace slag.

EPA Environmental Health and Pollutant Management Director Wang Jiunn-iuan (王俊淵) said the reason there is so much contaminated land is mainly because of illegal dumping by the disposal companies before more effective management methods were introduced in 2001.

Although laws were already in place, they were not enforced, he said. Only when the management systems of hazardous waste disposal trucks were digitized in 2002 did illegal dumping begin to subside, he said. Currently, the EPA requires hazardous waste disposal trucks to be outfitted with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to track their locations at all times. This has greatly reduced the amount of illegal dumping, Wang said.

However, while illegal dumping has been reduced, the bigger problem is that no one knew about Daliao’s contaminated duck farm — which is at the origin of the media storm about contaminated ducks — until after Huang learned about the contamination by chance.

“We only started to suspect that the duck farm was polluted after passing it on the way to conduct another pollution analysis,” Huang said.

The color of its soil and its surrounding vegetation all appeared to be polluted, he said.

Huang said that if he had not tipped the authorities off, it was unlikely the Daliao duck farm would have been investigated. The ducks were later found to have levels of copper, nickel, chromium, zinc, arsenic and lead that were two to 10 times the safety limit. They were also found to contain up to five times the recommended maximum level of dioxins — which the WHO states can cause impairment of immune, nervous and reproductive systems after long-term exposure.

EPA officials said there was not enough manpower and resources to investigate every single location for traces of illegal dumping. They said that currently, the EPA already knows of 175 contaminated ­locations nationwide, all of which were the result of illegal dumping before 2001. Of the 17 locations that pose an immediate threat to the public, 16 have already been closed and one is in the process of being closed, officials said.

Wang said the EPA relies on public complaints to find polluted land. He said the Daliao duck farm was located in an area that was sparsely populated and as a result, no one came forward before Huang.

However, faced with intense media pressure over contaminated land, he promised the EPA would, “develop a more complete plan for dealing with illegal dumping.”

The EPA will work with local authorities because “these problems usually fall under their jurisdiction,” Wang said.

The problem with the EPA’s reliance on public complaints is that most of the public lacks an understanding of how to spot signs of pollution, critics said.

As a result, it is very likely large areas of contaminated land will remain polluted for some time to come, Huang said.

Recent media attention would suggest that the issue of contaminated land has finally caught the attention of both the public and the EPA, Chao said.

However, if it weren’t for the Daliao ducks, the whole issue may have simply been buried, he said.

Ex-PLA chief downplays threat
　

SLAP IN THE FACE: Former PLA general Li Jijun’s comments at a forum went against the very principles under which President Ma has approached peace with Beijing
　

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Nov 15, 2009, Page 3

A retired People’s Liberation Army (PLA) general said in Taipei yesterday that it was “meaningless” to ask China to remove the missiles it aims at Taiwan because they are mobile and that it would be more “useful” for Taiwan to recognize “one China” than for Taiwan to keep a big army.

Former PLA general Li Jijun (李際均), now the honorary chairman of the China Research Society of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, made the remarks during a cross-strait forum held to mark 60 years of cross-strait relations after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops lost the Chinese civil war and withdrew to Taiwan in 1949.

Li said China’s military threat was a “fake issue” cooked up by Washington whose purpose was to compel Taiwan to spend money on buying weapons from the US and help its military industry.

“I am urging Taiwan not to fall into the trap,” he said. “For anyone with basic military common sense, mobile missiles can be restored if they are removed … It is meaningless.”

It would be more “useful” for Taiwan to recognize “one China” than to have a 500,000-member army, Li said.

Li’s comments came as a slap on the face of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who has asked Beijing to remove its missiles before both sides can sit down and talk about a peace agreement. It also debunked a view recently expressed by US Missouri State University political science professor Dennis Hickey in an article published in the Los Angeles Times that the US should agree not to sell jets to Taiwan in exchange for the removal of ballistic missiles that China has pointed at Taiwan.

“Taiwan also deploys missiles aimed at the mainland,” he said. “The mainland people do not feel the threat … That thing [ballistic missiles] is not that intimidating.”

Saying the deployment of ballistic missiles against Taiwan was part of China’s overall defense strategy, Li added that they were not aimed at Taiwanese people but at blocking foreign forces from obstructing unification.

Taiwan’s National Policy Foundation adviser Jack Lee (李允傑), however, told the forum that it would be difficult for Taiwan to believe that it would be more useful to recognize “one China” than to have an army of 500,000 soldiers, given the lessons of history.

Lee said the KMT signed an agreement on nationalizing the army with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1945, but the CCP later negated it.

Lee said that while Taiwan understands China’s deployment of ballistic missiles is based on nationalism, the missiles pose a hurdle to a peace agreement, adding that Ma was not asking China to remove all its missiles, but to show some sincerity.

KMT Legislator Shuai Hua-ming (帥化民), who also took part in the forum, said both sides could be overreliant on a peace agreement to solve all problems. Taking the example of a peace agreement signed between Germany and the Soviet Union, Shuai said they resumed fire one day after the accord was signed.

“To rely on the peace agreement is to simplify the problem,” he said.

Asked for comments, Democratic Progressive Party Spokesman Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) yesterday said Li’s remarks reflected the fact that he did not understand Taiwan and that its 23 million people had the right to determine the country’s future.

“If China continues to pretend that the threat posed by the missiles to Taiwanese is not there and holds on to such ridiculous views, it won’t do any good for cross-strait peace,” Tsai said.

Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉), secretary­-­general of Taiwan Solidarity Union, said Li’s views were representative of China’s longstanding strategy of isolating Taiwan from the international community and forcing Taiwan to sign a peaceful agreement under its “one China” framework.

“China has been persuading the US to refrain from selling arms to Taiwan and warding off any interference of international players in cross-strait issues so as to achieve its goal of annexation of Taiwan,” Lin said.

Lin said China had recently ratcheted up the pressure on US over its arms sale policy to Taiwan after one of its main strategy to take over Taiwan by causing the country’s economic dependence on China started to generate results.

Forging an economic equilibrium
　

By Darson Chiu and Pei-chen Liu 邱達生，劉佩真
Sunday, Nov 15, 2009, Page 8

According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, real GDP grew 3.5 percent in the US in the third quarter from the preceding quarter, though the change from the third quarter last year was minus 2.3 percent.

Most people do not really care how economists interpret recovery from crisis because governments and businesses worldwide are so eager to celebrate good news after suffering through a grim period amid much criticism. And the news does seem good — but ordinary people are far from living happily ever after. The damage caused by the crisis is still apparent and will endure for some time if certain goals are not adequately planned for and pursued.

Economists have been discussing how the 2008-2009 financial crisis might introduce a paradigm for resolving anomalies in growth models now that the old way has been shown to be incapable of meeting new challenges. Challenges facing vulnerable groups are more serious than before, however, as signs of recovery have yet to appear in the job market and across quality of life indices.

We therefore need a new economic and social paradigm that addresses not only macroeconomic recovery, but also a more balanced, inclusive and sustainable mode of growth.

As a member of APEC, Taiwan ought to pay closer attention to these issues, which have ramifications both domestically and internationally.

Stimulus packages among APEC members include expansionary fiscal policies and looser monetary operations. These have had gradual positive effects. Signs of recovery are becoming more noticeable.

At this critical moment, however, when and how to end economic intervention are the key issues.

We are all aware that economic policies can exert positive and negative effects, and we certainly do not wish to resolve this crisis by inducing another bubble. Central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) said last month that property speculation could rise in the wake of lower interest rates and that the financial sector should monitor the situation carefully. Indeed, it is essential to coordinate public and private decision-making and set rates at a level that will not backfire for investors.

The structure of the global economy has changed, regardless of what governments have done in response to economic instability. Before the crisis, there was a significant trans-Pacific imbalance, which was largely the result of uneven savings and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. Although an exit strategy is important, some policies should be retained to help strike a balance between savings and investment.

Taiwan should strive to move away from reliance on external demand and toward reliance on internal demand. After all, it is commonly argued that Asian consumption and investment will play a more important role in the new global economic arena.

The financial crisis has impacted on economic and social development — and vulnerable socioeconomic groups in particular. It is difficult to comfort the jobless by offering optimistic forecasts; unemployed people simply want their jobs back.

Vulnerable groups need to be better protected. Appropriate action that addresses the impact of APEC policies belongs to two categories: structural reform and social resilience enhancement.

Promoting structural reform can provide equal economic opportunities to all, in addition to reducing transaction costs and stabilizing growth. Enhancing social resilience — improving welfare nets, for example — can help vulnerable groups regain the confidence that was shattered by the economic crisis and ease their reluctance to consume. The road ahead for growth requires inclusiveness and taking better care of all stakeholders.

In its most recent report, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said the unemployment rate was 6.04 percent, or 661,000 people. This compares with an average of 450,000 jobless people last year; clearly, it’s time for the government to do something.

Balanced and inclusive growth can be sustainable. Such growth needs to satisfy the needs of the current generation without compromising those of future generations. For this reason, everyone must work hard to ensure that negotiations on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen reach workable conclusions. Taiwan is not a member of the UN, but it is a part of this planet; it should support any initiatives that will sustain life on Earth.

It is important to address climate change, but it is also important to eliminate unnecessary trade barriers relating to environmental goods and services. In so doing, valuable resources can be better preserved and optimally allocated. Public-private partnerships within and between nations through APEC would be a feasible way of coordinating efforts that target sustainable growth.

Again, Taiwan should not be absent from this process. In addition to optimistic economic data, there is a desire for an equilibrium in which growth is balanced across all macroeconomic sectors, thus leading to acceptance across an entire society while fulfilling environmental responsibilities.

Darson Chiu is an associate research fellow and Pei-chen Liu is an industry consultant at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.

Taiwan’s APEC envoy was always a PRC pick
　

By Parris Chang 張旭成
Sunday, Nov 15, 2009, Page 8

Yesterday and today, heads of state and government of 23 APEC members, including US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, are attending the annual summit in Singapore. Because of Beijing’s objections, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) — like his predecessors Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) — has been excluded from the forum.

Last year, Ma dispatched Lien Chan (連戰), a former vice president and premier, as his representative to the APEC summit meeting in Peru. This time, Ma has again sent Lien.

Lien is the most senior former Taiwan official to participate in an APEC summit. In 2001, Chen named former vice president Li Yuan-zu (李元簇) as his envoy at the APEC summit in Shanghai, but the Chinese government, in contravention of APEC rules and precedents, refused to admit him.

Thereafter, Taiwan sent people like Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) and Morris Chang (張忠謀), chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

When Ma came to office in May last year, he had hoped to attend the Peru APEC summit. He had, after all, implemented a policy of opening to and reconciliation with China and had done everything possible to improve relations and develop a friendship with Beijing. Hadn’t Hu said that China wanted to help Taiwan expand its international participation? There was no reason, therefore, for Beijing to object to Ma’s presence — or so he thought.

To Ma’s disappointment, Beijing vetoed him. When former US president Bill Clinton, the host of the first APEC summit in Seattle in 1993, yielded to Beijing’s pressure not to invite Lee Teng-hui to the summit, he set a bad precedent, allowing China to wield de facto veto power over Taiwan’s representation ever since.

Thus, like his two most recent predecessors, Ma was compelled to appoint an envoy. His first choice was Fredrick Chien (錢復), minister of foreign affairs and a former National Assembly speaker and Control Yuan president. To Ma’s chagrin, Beijing vetoed him as well and, political sources say, had a say in naming its preferred candidate — Lien. Ma had to swallow this “bitter pill” because it would be politically impossible to oppose him.

Is there a particular reason for Beijing to support Lien? Yes. In April 2005, Hu invited Lien, then-chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and its unsuccessful presidential candidate in 2000 and 2004, to visit China and set up a KMT-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forum, a platform that calls for “one China” and opposes Taiwanese independence. The platform has provided Lien, the KMT’s “honorary chairman” since July 2005 and leader of the KMT’s pro-Beijing faction (or “old guard”), with opportunities to fraternize with Hu in China and set the tone for cross-strait rapprochement.

Hu has thus skillfully implemented a united front strategy to manipulate the KMT and Taiwan’s young democracy. Even after Ma took over as president, Beijing’s gambit to use Lien to checkmate Ma and to advance its Taiwan agenda has continued.

Lien yesterday met with Hu, and the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) was a key topic for discussion. Lien had told reporters that informal talks on an ECFA had taken place and that because senior officials from both sides of the Strait would be in Singapore, “it is a prime opportunity to conclude the informal phase of the talks to expedite the official phase of the negotiation process.”

Parris Chang is professor emeritus of political science at Pennsylvania State University and president of the Taiwan Institute for Political Economic and Strategic Studies. He is a former National Security Council deputy secretary-general and a former chairman of the legislative defense and foreign relations committees.