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Taiwan
ChinaPolitics

Taiwan to put pork additive and energy to the vote in August referendums

  • Electoral commission says public can have their say on whether meat containing ractopamine should be banned from the island
  • Nuclear power plant and LNG terminal also on the agenda

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Taiwan will vote in August on whether to ban an additive in pork. Photo: EPA-EFE
Reuters
Taiwan’s election commission approved on Friday the holding of three referendums in late August that could affect both the island’s relations with the United States and its energy security if they are passed.

Referendums have increasingly been used to resolve contentious issues such as same-sex marriage, though they need a turnout of at least 25 per cent of some 19 million eligible voters to be valid, with a majority voting “yes” to pass.

“The Central Election Commission has deliberated on, and approved, three referendums,” it said in a statement.

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The two most contentious issues to be decided could have wider implications if approved when put to voters on August 28.

One is whether to ban pork containing a leanness-enhancing additive, while the other concerns whether to change the site of a planned new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to protect the maritime environment.

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Thousands of protesters in Taiwan rally against imports of US pork with controversial additive

Thousands of protesters in Taiwan rally against imports of US pork with controversial additive

Last year, the government approved pork containing ractopamine, which is banned in the European Union and mainland China though widely used in the United States, despite the objections of the main opposition party, the Kuomintang, on safety grounds.

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