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The Liberty Times
Editorial: Government¡¦s true nature exposed
Recently, there has been a series of demonstrations held in Taipei, with various
groups taking to the streets in protest against President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) and
his administration for their poor handling of the controversy surrounding
imports of US beef that contain residue of the lean-meat drug ractopamine.
Following his re-election in January, and before his second term in office has
even officially begun, Ma has managed to aggravate and inflict a lot of
disasters on the nation. While the price of everyday goods has continued to
rise, there has also been an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among pigs in
Kinmen, while there is evidence to suggest that outbreaks of avian influenza
have spread as a result of an alleged cover-up.
All these problems have demolished the public¡¦s faith in the Cabinet headed by
newly appointed Premier Sean Chen and its promise to bring peace of mind to
everyone. However, it is the US beef issue that has provoked the most anger
among the public.
These issues have also exposed the true and unappealing face of Ma and his
administration. The president and his team have been exposed as lacking
transparency and wavering and backtracking on key issues ¡X the US beef issue is
the clearest example of this.
The government claimed to have made no commitments to the US regarding beef
imports. It also said that it has set no timetable to resolve the issue and no
predetermined policy positions, but this is all plainly untrue. The truth of the
matter is that, during a meeting with American Institute in Taiwan Chairman
Raymond Burghardt on Feb. 1, Ma said in connection with the beef issue that
officials in the incoming Cabinet would ¡§take new approaches to their work¡¨ ¡X a
clear hint that Taipei was willing to make concessions on the issue.
The government has so far convened three meetings of experts and promised to
respect professional knowledge, communicate with the public, safeguard people¡¦s
health and so on, but not a word of this is genuine. The government is just
leading the experts and the general public up the garden path.
The false nature of the government has not just been expressed in the way it
keeps discarding its promises ¡X saying one thing, but doing another ¡X but also
by the fact that it does not shy away from misrepresenting the US beef issue and
misleading the public. The government says that only 29 countries ban the
controversial leanness-enhancing feed additive ractopamine, but that is a lot
less than the figure of 160 countries given on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs¡¦
Web site. The government has also said that only a fairly small percentage of
Taiwanese say they would mind if the ban on US beef was lifted, but that stands
in sharp contrast with the results of opinion polls carried out by media and the
Democratic Progressive Party.
What raised people¡¦s suspicions even more was that the Government Information
Office did not hold a press conference to announce its policy change on this
important and widely talked about issue. Instead, only a press release was
issued late in the evening.
The president has avoided talking about the issue in public, preferring to
handle it behind closed doors. Cabinet ministers and department chiefs are
obliged to play along with this scheme, so when confronted with questions, they
try to dodge the issue, each giving their own version of events.
As to the statement that Chen issued on Monday, it seemed very much as though he
was presenting the arguments after a conclusion had already been reached.
Just as everyone was talking about the issue of lifting restrictions on US beef
imports, inspections showed that as much as 20 percent of US beef on sale in
Taiwan contained traces of ractopamine. Moreover, it has now become clear that
only a small number of inspections were carried out before the aforementioned
tests, showing that government assurances that it would rigorously verify the
source of US beef imports, open, inspect and label them at customs and carry out
further inspections at the point of sale, have been nothing but a sham.
Considering how poorly these measures have been implemented, it is difficult to
tell how much ractopamine-tainted beef has already been consumed.
The government insists that it will only relax restrictions on US beef imports
under four conditions: establishing a safe level of ractopamine residue for beef
imports, handling beef and pork imports as separate issues, enforcing mandatory
labeling and preserving the import ban on offal. However, who can trust the
government to enforce these conditions given its poor record in safeguarding the
public¡¦s health?
What you can be sure of is that the government will try to pull the wool over
the public¡¦s eyes. As to what kind of pressure the US might be applying, our
government refuses to give a clear account. Furthermore, amid questions about
whether relaxing restrictions on US beef imports would boost bilateral trade and
help restart negotiations on a Taiwan-US Trade and Investment Framework
Agreement, government spokespeople just won¡¦t give a straight answer.
Accustomed as our government is to hoodwinking the public, it is only to be
expected that it cannot give a clear response to people¡¦s questions. If, as the
government says, it has no timetable for resolving the beef issue, why is it
rushing to formulate a policy before July, when joint committees of the UN Food
and Agriculture Organization and WHO are expected to set maximum residue limits
for ractopamine, and before risk assessments have been completed?
Predictably, the government made sure that the general public was the last to
know about the latest bird flu outbreak. By the time news got out, eggs and meat
from flu-infected chickens might have been on sale for some time. It can only be
hoped that the virus behind the recent bird flu outbreak does not mutate into a
more virulent form that humans can contract. The most worrying aspect of the
case is that the cover-up allowed the virus to spread and risked getting out of
control.
People still remember how a wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
spread around the world 10 years ago, having been covered up by Chinese
authorities after it first appeared in southern provinces. It should come as no
surprise that the Ma administration, having spent too much time in the company
of its Chinese counterparts, is behaving in the same way.
The most sinister aspect is that the bird flu outbreak started before January¡¦s
elections, but there is evidence to suggest that the government covered it up,
likely to help ensure success for Ma and his party at the polls.
Now that the government has signaled its intent to lift restrictions on US beef
imports, we are already hearing that US politicians are calling on Taiwan to do
the same for pork. It is not surprising to see the pressure from overseas being
turned up, given the Ma administration¡¦s lack of mettle in standing up to such
pressures.
US pork will not be the last of it: Now that a precedent has been set, we can
expect the door to be opened to ractopamine-tainted meat from other countries,
posing a big challenge for food safety management in Taiwan.
An even greater cause for concern is that if Ma is willing to make such
concessions to the US, then it is quite possible that he would be willing to do
the same for another country that could help him even more ¡X China. The
government has shown itself willing to sacrifice the public¡¦s health and welfare
over the US beef issue, so if and when China makes demands on Taiwan, who can
trust this China-friendly administration to withstand the pressure?
Translated by Julian Clegg
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