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New Cabinet to
discuss US beef imports, Ma says
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff Reporter
The new Cabinet will begin discussions on US beef imports after it is sworn in
on Monday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday, adding that he expected
Taipei to resume bilateral talks with Washington under the Trade and Investment
Framework Agreement (TIFA) platform.
In a meeting with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt
at the Presidential Office, Ma reiterated that his administration expected to
make progress on the stalled TIFA talks and that the nation aimed to join the
emerging Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the next 10 years.
“I understand the US is very concerned about the issue of US beef imports. We
have just completed the Cabinet reshuffle, and the new Cabinet will take over on
Monday. The Cabinet will exchange ideas with the US on the issue,” he said.
The US called off the resumption of TIFA talks, which were scheduled to resume
in January last year, after Taiwan began testing US beef for ractopamine — a
controversial feed additive — and banned US beef containing the substance.
Burghardt on Tuesday linked the bilateral trade dispute to Taiwan’s overall
trade liberalization and its engagement with regional trade partners, expecting
Taiwan to address the issue of US beef imports as soon as possible.
He congratulated Ma on his re-election last month and praised Taiwan for
demonstrating a mature democracy.
He added that he expected the Ma administration to continue deepening bilateral
trade and investment relations with the US during his second term.
Ma promised the new Cabinet would further improve Taiwan-US relations.
“Maintaining strong and stable relations with the US is the core of our foreign
policy,” he said, adding that Taiwan-US relations under his watch have been the
best in the past 30 years and that the nation had also fostered better ties with
Japan and China.
Ma linked the expansion of international relations to the improvement of
cross-strait relations, insisting that his “three noes” policy — no unification,
no independence and no use of force — and the so-called “1992 consensus” served
as the major basis for such developments.
At a separate setting yesterday, premier-designate Sean Chen (陳冲) said that
specialists at the Council of Agriculture, the Department of Health and the
Consumer Protection Commission would use their professional expertise to review
the US beef issue and draft suggestions using international standards as a
reference.
Asked if the government was under pressure from the US to further open the
market to US beef, Chen said: “There is no negotiation without pressure. If
there is no pressure, there is no need to negotiate.”
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) has said that the legislature will
discuss the issue and revise related rules after the Cabinet comes up with new
policies governing US beef imports.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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