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Lawmaker slams Ting
Hsin over treatment of Taiwan
By Yang Ya-min, Tseng Wei-chen and Jake Chung / Staff reporters,
with staff writer
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) yesterday accused
the owners of Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) of mistreating Taiwan, after
its Hong Kong-listed food manufacturing arm insisted it uses oil products
imported from Southeast Asia and not from Taiwan.
Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (康師傅控股) made the announcement in a filing
to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to allay public concern over products
manufactured by the company amid the adulterated food oil scandal in Taiwan.
Tingyi said in its statement that it uses palm oil for its food products.
Tingyi chief financial officer Lin Ching-tang (林清棠) added in an interview with
the Central News Agency yesterday that the company is listed in Hong Kong,
conducts the majority of its business in China, and that its products are mainly
sold in China and not Taiwan.
Huang said during a legislative seesion yesterday that Ting Hsin Group has not
only been complicit in adulterating edible oil in Taiwan, it has made things
worse for Taiwan by making the an announcement, which marred the nation’s image
abroad.
“Does the company mean to say that Taiwan is inferior to China and more
black-hearted [heixin, 黑心)]?” Huang asked.“Was it fair for the company to make
such an announcement that severely hurts the feelings of Taiwanese?”
Responding to Huang’s query, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said the company should
verify its claim before making such statements.
Jiang added that if the company had used Taiwan-produced edible oil, then its
claims that it did not could not stand up to scrutiny.
If the company had not purchased Taiwan-manufactured oil, it would have no
reason to make such a claim, the premier said, adding that whether the company’s
announcement was appropriate, fair, or wise could be debated, but that was a
topic to discuss at another time.
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