Criticizing the hypocrisy of both parties: American beef is fully labeled for election

The lack of consensus between the ruling and opposition parties on how to deal with the controversy over U.S. beef has resulted in the last week of the Legislative Yuan's current session being idle. Former Director-General of the Department of Health Yang Zhiliang today slammed the two parties' practices as "extremely hypocritical." The Democratic Progressive Party is engaging in political struggles in the name of maintaining health, while the Kuomintang knows that whether or not U.S. beef is allowed to be accepted is related to the economy in the next four years, but has repeatedly denied that there is any pressure or timetable. He called for facing political realities and fully labeling the origin of American beef, just like tobacco and alcohol, so that people can choose to eat it or not.

The draft amendment to the Food Sanitation Management Act, which is related to whether American beef with ractopamine will be allowed to be consumed, was originally expected to be put to a vote this week. However, Democratic Progressive Party legislators occupied the podium and threatened to fight until the recess. The ruling Kuomintang responded passively, and there were even rumors that it intended to use an administrative order to allow American beef with ractopamine to be consumed after the recess.

When Yang Zhiliang attended the charity auction press conference on the 15th, he was asked about the chaos in the Legislative Yuan and shook his head repeatedly. He pointed out that although there is no evidence that clenbuterol is 100% safe, it has been consumed in foreign countries for many years and there have been no cases of poisoning. The harm is less than betel nut, which causes many oral cancers. He said: "If the DPP is for the health of the people, why doesn't it ban betel nut? At least require betel nut to have a warning like cigarettes! Claiming to fight against American beef for the health of the people is fake."

Yang Zhiliang also criticized that the ruling Kuomintang knew that American beef would not pass and TIFA was hopeless, but kept telling the outside world that there was no set policy, no timetable or pressure, which led to such a big turmoil. He said that when he was the director of the Department of Health, he was in compliance with the law by not allowing the import of American beef containing ractopamine, but he believes that the law can be amended, and given the current situation facing the country, he believes that the law should be amended.

When asked whether he supports the use of executive orders to open up, Yang Zhiliang said that the issue of American beef is very controversial in the country and it would be better to have legislative support. He called on both parties to follow procedures and that under the current political reality, the best way to deal with American beef is to open it up but fully label it so that people can choose to eat it or not.