Taiwan has staged a controversial referendum on U.S. pork sales | Stories

Taipei, Taiwan In January, small gold and yellow stickers began to appear outside the doors of restaurants in Taiwan, indicating their use. Taiwanese pig only.

Stickers are hard to miss, sometimes covered by the well-known COVID-19 notices, but they do have a great meaning for Taiwanese consumers. Their registration comes amid growing frustration in Taiwan over the government’s decision to allow pigs to be imported from the United States, despite long-term fears of ractopamine, a diet supplement used by American pig farmers.

Ractopamine, which makes meat lean, is banned in the European Union, China, Russia and 157 countries, but the Taiwanese government says documentation that shows where it came from means consumers can choose to eat it.

However, most consumers are careful.

Pork is a staple of Taiwanese cuisine as well as a very important household item. About 90 percent of Taiwan’s pork is produced by local farmers, who are members of the island’s pro-agricultural community.

The issue has sparked protests in the streets and in parliament, and the question of whether Taiwan should ban pig imports with ractopamine is one of four issues to be voted on in Sunday’s national referendum.

Many Taiwanese people are expected to vote in favor of the ban.

The referendum takes place every two years and the results are not binding – voters have openly denied that same-sex marriage is legalized in 2019 – but they will send a strong signal to the caretakers of President Tsai Ing-wen.

Pig problems in the US

The sale of pork in many countries seems to be accepted by the US, Taiwan’s most important ally. Taiwanese president awaits signing free trade agreement with US and to join the Trans-Pacific trade agreement called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Tsai said the rejection of the U.S. pig could indicate that Taiwan was opposed to free trade, at a time when his government needed as many friends as possible among them. stress from China, whose government claims the island of independence as its own.

The President also said that the science surrounding ractopamine has changed in the last decade and that the global guidelines for use now act as part of the UN Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Many voters and opponents of the Kuomintang (KMT) are unsure.

Voting is a newsletter MyFormosa found that 55.4 percent of respondents said they would vote to refuse to sell abroad while 37.9 percent would oppose the ban.

Taiwanese lawmakers throw swine intestines during a debate in parliament in Taipei, Taiwan, November 27, 2020. [File: Ann Wang/ Reuters]

The intestines of pigs and other organs are visible on the ground after Taiwanese lawmakers threw their limbs during an argument at the parliament in Taipei, Taiwan, November 27, 2020. [File: Ann Wang/ Reuters]

The controversy over this issue has grown. Toward the end of 2020, KMT dumped pigs under a Taiwanese parliament by protesting against the US pork import policy in early 2021. Large three-party pig balloons are frequently seen at their meetings and outside the party headquarters.

“Taiwan will not allow the US government, whether the Trump administration or Biden, to take whatever it wants. of the party Johnny Chiang. “It is not wrong to say that we need US support … in our fight against China, so we have to give whatever the American politicians want.”

Although KMT relies heavily on consumer fears about the additives in pigs, their location is something to face when the party was last.

In 2012, the leadership of President Ma Ying-jeou began approving the shipment of American cattle with low ractopamine. At the time, however, the Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party opposed exports, though they appeared to be less controversial due to the shortage of cattle in Taiwanese.

“There are a number of reasons why this issue has been so serious. Optics is one. Food safety issues are a very important issue. There were concerns about importing food from Fukushima (Japan). Pork occupies a prominent position in Taiwanese cuisine; cattle is not a big deal because most people do not eat beef because of the historical love of the water buffalo, ”says Brian Hioe, a frequent commentator in Taiwan and the founding editor of New Bloom Magazine.

Party votes

Some see KMT as having an impact on pig protection as an easy way for the party to attract voters at a time when its long-term impact appears to be on decrease.

Although KMT is known to be one of the oldest political parties in the world, most of the age of a member of the KMT party is over 40 years and its politics go back to the older generation of Taiwan. Many of its top members still want closer ties with China and a final alliance, against what Taiwanese voters see as their democracy in China, according to continuous voting by National Chengchi University.

People have participated in protests against the shipment of U.S. pig ractopamine to Taipei, Taiwan, November 22, 2020. [File: Ann Wang/ Reuters]

The party also has less money after it was shut down by the Transitional Justice Commission of Taiwan pending an inquiry into whether it had obtained wrongdoing when KMT ruled Taiwan as a one-party state.

“This is the first issue that comes to the forefront of the party. It gives opponents a chance to break the stereotype of a well-known ally – right now, ractopamine – overcoming a key issue for the Tsai regime,” said J Michael Cole, chief executive of Global Organization. Taiwan Institute. , a production tank in the United States.

“KMT can exploit security, intimidation, intelligence, yes, secret anti-American ideology in some groups in Taiwan, create a vicious storm that could undermine government policy. This, in turn, could undermine US-Taiwan relations, and undermine Taiwan’s efforts. joining the CPTPP, another goal of the supervisors.

The electrical system

Another difficult question being asked on Saturday is the future of the Datan algal reef located 27 kilometers north of Taiwan. As part of the Democratic Progressive Party’s plans to ensure that Taiwan has enough power, the government wants to build natural gas reserves near the rocks.

Taiwan’s energy needs became a global issue in May as the growing demand in the summer, coupled with severe drought, made it possible for its hydroelectric dams to provide enough energy. Homeowners during the closure due to coronavirus were affected as well as Taiwan’s most important TSMC computer manufacturers.

The natural gas industry was cited by Tsai officials as another way to change the nuclear power, an unspecified power source among many Taiwanese voters, whose concerns were fueled by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

Voters will be asked if they want to restart the suspended nuclear plant, although voting indicates that more than half of those surveyed oppose the system. Voting also indicates that voters will reject new gas stations on the Datan reef and request that they be relocated.

The final question would be whether voters think that referendums should be based on election or by-election, which requires about five million voters to participate in order to achieve the results.

Hioe of New Bloom said he hoped Saturday’s voters would vote, especially in political parties, because the referendum was based on all political parties.

“It is very theatrical and strongly influenced by biased politics, so there is no possibility of controversy. This is not really related to the culture of any group. “There should be an argument, but there is no reason for disagreement,” he said.