Public trust in Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou's government has taken a beating after the island abruptly announced the conditional lifting of a ban on most US beef containing ractopamine, a controversial leanness-enhancing drug.
Ma was re-elected in January for a second four-year term, but his government came under mounting criticism yesterday, with some opposition lawmakers threatening to unseat the cabinet formed just last month.
'In addition to boycotting legislative bills backed by the government, we will not rule out the possibility of unseating the cabinet because of such a decision,' Lee Tung-hao, the opposition People First Party's (PFP) whip in the legislature, said.
The growing controversy is one of the challenges the new cabinet must resolve if it is to win public support.
In a move described as 'highly despicable' by some opposition lawmakers and civic groups, the Ma government issued a statement late on Monday night saying that it had decided to conditionally lift the ban.
Beef treated with a safe level of ractopamine - a feed additive used to enhance leanness in animals raised for meat - would be allowed to be imported, but internal organs from cattle containing the additive would still be banned, as would ractopamine-treated pork products. Imports of all such beef must be clearly labelled as coming from the US, so people can choose to buy it or not.
Opponents of such imports say they are concerned about possible risks to human health from consuming meat containing ractopamine.