Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2016-12-25
Protesters on Sunday disrupted a public hearing in New Taipei City on whether to lift the ban on food
Protesters call out slogans demanding more people be allowed inside the venue, and effectively preventing the hearing from taking place. (CNA photo)
imports from radiation-affected prefectures in Japan.
The opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which supports the continued ban, surrounded the venue of Sunday’s public hearing, getting into scuffles with police who were trying to prevent them from entering the venue.
The hearing was scheduled to begin at 9:30am, however protesters called out slogans, demanded more people be allowed inside the venue, and effectively prevented the hearing from taking place. Questions were raised about why the government had not announced details about the public hearing two weeks in advance in accordance with the law.
KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-pin said that it appeared that the public hearing was not trying to gauge public opinion, but rather to convince the opposition of its position. He said that made the hearing pointless. Hau’s comments were interrupted by protesters calling for him to “shut up”, and by others questioning why the KMT opposed the import of foods from Japan due to radiation concerns, yet at the same time supported the building of a fourth nuclear power plant in Taiwan. [FULL STORY]
