Academics yesterday lashed out at the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government for what they called “a lack of concrete direction” in its policy on cross-strait relations.

At a conference held jointly by the Taiwan Competitiveness Forum think tank and the Chinese Integration Association, a pro-unificaton civic group, association chairman Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) said the government had failed to make clear where the nation is headed under its leadership.

Defying the executive branch once again, the legislative caucuses of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Tuesday reached a consensus to ban “risky” beef products, including bone-in beef, offal and ground beef, from areas where cases of mad cow disease have been documented in the past 10 years.

This outcome is a stern rebuke for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, which in October said it would relax restrictions on beef imports — but without any political preparation. Not only was there no prior consultation with local health experts, but it was also in blatant defiance of a legislative resolution from 2006 that requires the Department of Health to submit a detailed report to the legislature before lifting bans on US beef.

In a random draw yesterday, the Taipei District Court selected Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) to preside over legal proceedings for the fourth round of indictments issued against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and others.

Chou was the judge who previously ordered Chen’s release from detention. However, last December, a panel of judges replaced Chou with Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓). The change at the time prompted allegations of procedural flaws and political interference.