Taiwan opposition head criticizes ruling party for ‘betting on Trump’
TAIPEI (The China Post/ANN) — Kuomintang Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) criticized the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨) on Wednesday for allegedly “betting on Trump” (押寶川普).
In a speech at the party’s weekly Central Standing Committee, Chiang condemned the ruling party for “betting” on U.S. President Donald Trump for quick diplomatic gains while blaming the KMT of “betting on China against the United States” (押中反美).
The chairman expressed the KMT’s support for stronger ties between Taipei and Washington but stressed that peaceful cross-strait relations and safeguarding the sovereignty of the Republic of China (ROC) are equally important.
Chiang further denounced DPP’s allegations that the opposition party is anti-U.S., noting that more than 160 countries around the world, including 20 countries from the European Union, have restrictions in place against U.S. meat imports.
They are not “anti-American” for all that, Chiang explained.
“We are pro-U.S., but we love Taiwan more,” he said, adding that the opposition party has only accepted to import U.S. beef from cattle aged under 30 months so far.
Given that Taiwan people eat seven times more pork than beef, Chiang warned against dropping import restrictions on U.S. beef from cattle over 30 months old and on U.S. pork containing ractopamine.
That’s the reason why opposition supporters will take the streets to protest on Nov. 22 against President Tsai Ing-wen’s decision to lift the restrictions “in line with international standards,” he pointed out.
