Taiwan's opposition vowed Sunday to stop the government's controversial decision to lift a ban on the import of US beef on the bone, imposed in 2003 amid fears over mad cow disease. Wang Sing-nan, the Democratic Progressive Party's parliamentary whip, lambasted the decision by the Kuomintang government, saying concerns for public health had been ignored.
"The decision was irresponsible... once such imports are done, it may have grave impacts on the people's health," he said. The party threatened to boycott an upcoming parliamentary debate on the government's budget for next year if the ban was not reimposed.
On Saturday Health Minister Yang Chih-liang offered to resign over the issue, one day after his department announced a decision that has outraged consumer rights advocates.
Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi said Sunday that the decision to lift the ban was "in the country's interest," without providing details. Observers say Washington may have used the beef issue as a bargaining chip in its talks with Taipei over the purchase of dozens of US-made F-16 fighters as well as a framework trade and investment agreement. Taiwan banned all US beef imports in December 2003 after reports of mad cow disease on the island but opened up to boneless beef imports in 2006. Beef affected by the disease is feared to cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a human variant of mad cow disease.