Taichung mayor openly criticized pork imports in meeting scheduled as private
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/31
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
AIT Director Brent Christensen (first left) and Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (first right) during their Dec. 16 meeting (CNA photo)
The Kuomintang (KMT) mayor recently had a run-in with AIT Director Brent Christensen, Washington’s top representative stationed in Taiwan, about the opening up of Taiwan to pork from the United States that has been treated with the leanness drug ractopamine. The government’s decision to lift a ban on the pork starting Friday (Jan. 1) has caused health concerns, with KMT politicians organizing protests and a petition drive for a referendum.
During their Dec. 16 meeting, Lu told Christensen directly about her opposition to the pork policy, a move which was condemned as ill-mannered and provocative by the mayor’s critics. The encounter had originally been scheduled as private, but the mayor unexpectedly opened it up to the media, the Liberty Times reported.
In the new video posted on Facebook Thursday, the AIT director was seen meeting with numerous senior Taiwanese politicians from all major parties, including New Taipei City’s KMT Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) but not Lu. [FULL STORY]
