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DPP, TSU boycott
premier’s policy address
BEEF BROUHAHA: Amid the commotion, Speaker Wang
Jin-pyng announced that the four caucuses would enter negotiations and a
consensus was reached after six hours
By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Chris Wang / Staff Reporters
Opposition lawmakers from the
Taiwan Solidarity Union and the Democratic Progressive Party display an anti-US
beef banner while boycotting a speech by Premier Sean Chen at the legislature in
Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Following a six-hour boycott by opposition
lawmakers yesterday, Premier Sean Chen was finally able to deliver his policy
address to the legislature after he promised that his administration would not
lift a ban on US beef containing traces of the feed additive ractopamine without
the legislature's consent before June.
Based on a resolution approved by the legislature, the government would not lift
the ban in the near future, Chen said late in the afternoon after a tumultuous
day in the legislature.
Government Information Office Minister Philip Yang (楊永明) said the time frame,
which was not written into the resolution, was understood to mean “in three or
four months,” before the legislative session enters a recess at the end of May
or June.
The legislature was scheduled to begin the first day of the new session at 10am
yesterday, with Chen delivering his policy address, but he was unable to make it
to the podium until about 4pm.
Immediately after Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) invited Chen to
deliver his address, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity
Union (TSU) lawmakers occupied the podium with banners and posters protesting
against the government’s attempts to ease its zero-tolerance policy on
ractopamine in beef.
The move followed an ultimatum by the TSU issued on Wednesday giving Chen 48
hours to pledge he would not allow meat imports containing ractopamine or it
would stage a boycott.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers countered by raising posters asking
the opposition to refrain from engaging in an “irrational boycott,” while some
remained seated in their chairs and watched while both sides chanted slogans at
each other.
Amid the commotion, Wang announced that the four legislative caucuses would
enter negotiations in an attempt to reach a consensus.
During the negotiations, the DPP and the TSU reiterated their opposition to the
loosening of the restrictions on ractopamine, with the DPP demanding that the
Executive Yuan pledge not to lift the ban by executive order and the TSU asking
Chen to make a pledge not to allow meat imports containing the additive.
KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) also proposed an amendment to prohibit the
use of ractopamine on Taiwanese livestock and to require that imports of meat
containing residues of the substance carry warning labels that explain the
potential harmful effects of ractopamine on human health.
A consensus was reached after about six hours of negotiations to resolve the
deadlock, which, had it failed, could have created a precedent by making it the
first time in the nation’s history that the premier had failed to present his
policy address to the legislature by the end of February, as required by the Act
Governing Legislators’ Exercise of Power (立法院職權行使法).
According to the conclusions reached, the Executive Yuan has promised it will
not allow imports of meat containing ractopamine in the near future; lawmakers
have agreed to write into the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) rules
governing the use of ractopamine in meat and to give the matter priority; and
the Executive Yuan has to accept the law after it is revised.
“It’s a pity it took a whole day to reach a consensus on what is a humble and
simple demand, but justice has been served,” DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安)
told a press conference after the negotiations. “The DPP’s position remains the
same. We oppose all meat imports that contain ractopamine.”
Pan said he suspected the Executive Yuan had been under tremendous pressure to
lift the ban from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the US, which is sending US
Under-Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez for a
visit from March 4 to 6.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) urged Ma, Chen and the KMT to show their
sincerity in the ensuing process and warned them against playing a “two-handed
strategy,” with the KMT controlling a majority in the legislature.
The Executive Yuan had showed its insincerity when it amended the wording of the
final texts of the results of the negotiations, insisting on adding “in the near
future” to its pledge not to lift the ban by executive order, DPP Legislator Liu
Chien-kuo (劉建國) said.
TSU caucus whip Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said his party launched the boycott because
Chen did not respond to the TSU’s demand to pledge to ban ractopamine from all
imported meat products.
Ractopamine has been banned in Taiwan since 2006 over public health concerns.
The ban could be lifted by an executive order because the ban is not written
into any law.
The US, one of the 27 countries in the world which have determined that meat
containing ractopamine residue is safe for human consumption, has urged Taiwan
to lift the ban, saying that the way the matter needs to be resolved before
high-level trade talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement
between Washington and Taipei can resume.
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