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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Culture & Society

Taiwanese Politician Protests Taichung City Hall Over Food Safety Failures

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A Taiwanese politician protested at the Taichung City Government over alleged food safety management failures.
  • The politician criticized the city's handling of recent food scandals, including the Zhonglian Oil incident.
  • Protesters demanded an apology from the mayor and the establishment of a victim compensation channel.

A candidate for city council in Taichung, Taiwan, protested at the city government building, accusing officials of dereliction of duty in food safety management. Chen Yijie, running for a council seat in the Shalu, Qingshui, and Wuri districts, led the demonstration on Thursday.

Chen and her supporters criticized the city's response to a series of food safety issues, including the recent "poison oil" scandal involving Zhonglian Oil. She argued that Taichung has repeatedly been at the center of national food safety controversies, citing concerns over lean meat, A-hepatitis-tainted berries, and African swine fever prevention.

"Good Mother Mayor" image Chen specifically targeted Mayor Lu Shiow-yen, who was elected in 2018 partly on a "good mother" platform. Chen contended that instead of actively addressing problems, the city administration has consistently blamed the central government. She questioned why local authorities, responsible for regular inspections and risk management of businesses like Zhonglian Oil, failed to detect anomalies earlier.

Taichung has repeatedly been at the center of national food safety storms, but what the people see is not active reflection, but constant blame shifting to the central government.

— Chen YijieCriticizing the Taichung city government's handling of food safety issues.

The protesters demanded that Mayor Lu publicly apologize to the nation. They also called for the immediate establishment of a channel for victims to seek compensation and a comprehensive review of the city's food safety inspection system. City representatives accepted the petition from the protesters.

Mayor Lu stated that the city government adheres to a "strict rather than lenient" principle in facing food safety incidents. She affirmed the commitment to "announce wherever we investigate" and "remove everything with concerns."

We will always adhere to the principle of 'strict rather than lenient' when facing food safety incidents, insist on 'announcing wherever we investigate,' and 'removing everything with concerns.'

— Lu Shiow-yenResponding to the food safety concerns raised by protesters.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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