Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-31
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Tuesday was the day Premier Lin Chuan was to have presented his first-ever government policy report to the Legislative Yuan, but a boycott by the opposition Kuomintang prevented him from doing so.

Lin was sworn in as premier on May 20, while President Tsai Ing-wen’s Democratic Progressive Party, which supports him, holds a majority at the Legislature.

Nevertheless, the 35 KMT lawmakers out of a total of 113 managed to occupy the podium of the assembly hall all day long, preventing Lin or any of his Cabinet members from addressing the Legislative Yuan. He and his Cabinet team were forced to stay around though, sitting behind benches at the front.

The KMT action was a protest against expectations that the government would eventually allow the import of pork from the United States containing residues of the lean-meat drug ractopamine. The government has as yet made no statements it intends to do so, but Washington is reportedly looking for the opening if Taiwan is to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Before he took office, Council of Agriculture Minister Tsao Chi-hung made a widely criticized remark that he would find it impossible to stop the import of U.S. pork.     [FULL  STORY]