Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Ma’s childish hide-and-seek tactics

Taipei Times Editorial

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has touted consistency as one of his guiding principles in governance, even though he has time and again shown inconsistency in his commitments to the nation. Except, however, when it comes to the manner in which his administration deals with the public when conducting cross-strait negotiations — the government has been consistent in shunning public oversight by continually choosing to hold cross-strait negotiations behind closed doors.

Taiwan and China on Wednesday began the ninth round of talks on a trade in goods agreement. Likely due to concerns over protests, the government has kept the talks secret by refusing to disclose the location of the three-day meeting.

Ma deaf to HK’s call to democracy

The Liberty Times Editorial

ON Aug. 31, China revealed its political reform plan for Hong Kong — which was really an anti-political reform plan. The plan has met with strong opposition in Hong Kong and attracted a lot of attention in the international media. Despite the close relationship between President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government and Beijing, the government’s response to China’s so-called political reform plan — similar to its response to the alleged secrecry leaks by former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) — was slow and inappropriate.

Government ineptness behind scandals: academics

Taipei Times

From second left to right, National Taiwan University professors Chen Wei-jen, Chen Chia-yang and Wu Kuen-yuh hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday to discuss the edible lard oil scandal.
Photo: CNA

Several National Taiwan University professors yesterday criticized the government’s efforts to crack down on food safety violations, saying that the snowballing recycled waste oil scandal highlights a lack of inter-ministerial cooperation and the ineffectiveness of the food safety management system.

Their remarks came one day after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the results of laboratory tests that found the edible lard oil manufactured by Greater Kaohsiung-based Chang Guann Co (強冠企業), which included recycled waste oil collected from restaurant fryers, met legal standards.

Profit-only culture breeds trouble

Taipei Times Editorial

In recent years, food scandals, including the ongoing tainted lard incident, have not only destroyed the credibility of the food industry, but also damaged public trust in the government as a watchdog for food safety. As the public questions why the industry is yet to learn its lesson, a key problem behind the scandals has come to light — the “profit-only” culture, in which the government plays an essential role.

The latest food scare began when oil producer Chang Guann Co was found to have manufactured lard oil using recycled waste oil, affecting more than 1,000 downstream food manufacturers, restaurants and street vendors.

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