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Taipei, Taiwan – In January, small gold and yellow stickers began to appear on restaurant doors across Taiwan, indicating that they were being used. Taiwanese pork only.
Stickers can be hard to miss, sometimes with warning shadows of COVID-19’s contact tracing everywhere, but they are of great importance to Taiwanese consumers. Their publication comes amid Taiwan’s anger over the government’s decision to allow pork imports from the United States, even though consumers have long feared the presence of ractopamine, a common dietary supplement used by American pig farmers.
Ractopamine, which increases the muscularity of meat, is banned in the European Union, China, Russia and 157 countries, but the Taiwanese government says that labels on the origin of the product can be chosen by consumers.
However, many consumers are wary.
Pork is a staple of Taiwanese cuisine and an important homemade product. About 90 percent of Taiwan’s pork is supplied by local farmers, who are part of the island’s strong agricultural lobby.
The issue has sparked protests in the streets and in parliament, and the question of whether Taiwan should ban the import of piglet with ractopamine is one of four issues that will be voted on in a national referendum on Sunday.
A majority of Taiwanese are expected to vote in favor of the ban.
The referendums are held every two years and their results are not binding – voters ruled out same-sex marriage before it was legalized in 2019 – but they will nevertheless send a strong signal to the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen.
Pig diseases in the US
Pork imports are seen as a concession from the US, Taiwan’s most important ally. The Taiwanese president hopes to sign a Free Trade Agreement with the United States and batu Overseas Trade Agreement, known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Pacific Cooperation Agreement (CPTPP).
Tsai said the rejection of the U.S. pig could show that Taiwan is opposed to free trade at a time when its government needs as many friends as possible. pressure From China, his government is claiming an autonomous island for itself.
The President emphasized that the science of ractopamine had changed in the last decade and that international guidelines for its use were now in force within the UN Codex Alimentarius Commission.
Many voters and the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) are not convinced.
News site surveys MyFormosa 55.4% of those surveyed said they would vote against banning imports, and 37.9% said they would oppose the ban.
Taiwanese lawmakers are throwing pig intestines at each other in Taipei (Taiwan) in a clash in parliament on November 27, 2020. [File: Ann Wang/ Reuters]
Pig intestines and other organs are seen on the ground after Taiwanese lawmakers threw parts at each other in a clash in parliament on November 27, 2020 in Taipei, Taiwan. [File: Ann Wang/ Reuters]The discussion on the subject has become heated. In late 2020, the KMT threw pork tenderloin to the ground in the Taiwanese parliament in a horrific protest against plans to import U.S. pork in early 2021. Large three-dimensional pig balloons have regularly appeared at their rallies and at the party’s outdoor headquarters.
“Taiwan cannot allow the US government, the Trump administration or the Biden administration to take what they want. “It’s completely wrong to say that we need US support … in the fight against China, so we need to give American politicians everything they want.”
With regard to pork additives, which KMT has relied heavily on consumer fears, their position is something apparent when the party was in ultimate power.
In 2012, the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou began approving the import of low-grade American ractopamine cows. At the time, however, Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party was opposed to imports, although they were less controversial because of their limited attraction to Taiwanese beef.
“There are a number of reasons why this issue is so big. It’s an optics. Food safety issues are a concern. There were concerns about food imports from Fukushima, Japan. Pork has a big place in the Taiwanese diet; meat is no less of a problem because many people don’t eat cows because of the historical love of buffalo water, ”said Brian Hioe, a frequent Taiwanese commentator and founding editor of the independent New Bloom magazine.
Partisan votes
Some see the KMT’s concern for pig safety as an easy way to attract voters at a time when it seems to have a long-term impact. decline.
Although the KMT has a reputation for being one of the oldest political parties in the world, the average age of a KMT party member is over 40, and its policy extends to the older generations of Taiwan. Many of its main members call for closer relations with China, as well as eventual unification, and go against the long-term trend of Taiwanese voters who see democracy as de facto independent of China. continuous interrogation By Chengchi National University.
People join a protest against the importation of US pork with ractopamine in Taipei, Taiwan, November 22, 2020 [File: Ann Wang/ Reuters]The party also has little money left after the Taiwan Transitional Justice Commission froze, awaiting an investigation into whether the KMT’s profits were made as a one-party state in Taiwan.
“This is, first and foremost, a matter for the parties. It allows the opposition to take advantage of the fears caused by unknown agents – in this case ractopamine – to defeat a policy of great importance to the Tsai administration, “said J Michael Cole, a senior member of the Global Taiwan Institute, a US-based think tank.
“The KMT can use protectionism, fear, misinformation, and yes, hidden feelings against Americans in some Taiwanese circles to create the perfect storm that will frustrate government policy. “This could weaken the efforts of the administration. This is a weaponry for a short-term political gain, made possible by referendums,” he said.
Energy policy
Another controversial question to vote on on Saturday is the future of the 27-kilometer-long algae reef Datan in northern Taiwan. As part of plans by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to ensure that Taiwan has adequate energy supply, the government intends to build a liquefied natural gas terminal near the reef.
Taiwan’s energy needs became international news in May, as demand for heatwave increased, along with a historic drought, and its hydroelectric dams were unable to provide adequate power. Coronavirus-related blockade affected citizens at home, as well as the factories of Taiwan’s leading computer chip maker TSMC.
The Tsai administration has billed the natural gas terminal as an alternative to nuclear power, a historically unknown source of energy among many Taiwanese voters, whose concerns were reinforced in 2011 by the Fukushima nuclear disaster near Japan.
Voters will be asked if they want to restart the disrupted nuclear power plant, even though just over half of those surveyed say they are against the plan. Polls also suggest voters will rule out a new natural gas terminal on the Datango Reef and ask it to move further down the coast.
One final question will be whether voters believe that referendums should be linked to or separate from elections, with around five million voters taking part in order to validate their results.
New Bloom’s Hioe said he expected voters to vote strongly on the party line on Saturday as the referendum took on a very partisan tone on both sides of the political spectrum.
“It’s very theatrical and it’s very caught up in partisan politics, so there’s no capacity for discussion. These are not really related to the core values of each party. There should be room for discussion, but not because of polarized positions, ”he said.
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