Will Taiwan’s food safety scandal wreck the DPP’s local election hopes?

Taiwan’s biggest food safety scandal in years has become a political liability for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), giving the opposition valuable ammunition ahead of November’s local elections. The latest controversy centres on soybean salad oil produced by Central Union Oil Corporation, which was found to contain excessive levels of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP). The substance is classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. According to Taiwan’s food authorities, the Taichung-based manufacturer produced about 28,992 tonnes of soybean salad oil in 30 batches between April and June, supplying three of the island’s largest food companies – Fwusow Industry, Formosa Oilseed Processing and Taisun Enterprise. The contamination was spotted by downstream food-maker Namchow Group, which detected abnormal BaP levels during routine testing on May 13. Central Union was informed on June 11 but did not notify regulators until June 30. The government waited till July 3 to officially announce the problem and recall measures. The scandal has continued to widen. As of Friday, authorities had checked seven of the 30 batches, finding that 8,478 tonnes of oil contained BaP levels beyond the legal limit. Around 2,597 tonnes of contaminated oil have been recovered. Another 5,146 tonnes have been removed from the market as a precaution pending further testing. The number of affected products has risen to 450, while 1,322 downstream businesses – including restaurants, hotels, retailers and schools – have been linked to the contaminated oil. Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te said this week the government would take full responsibility and that there was “no room for compromise” on food safety. But the scale of the recalls has fuelled public anxiety and handed Taiwan’s opposition parties an opportunity to portray the DPP as failing on an issue it had long championed. Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), accused the government of covering up the scandal. She argued that a lack of transparency had left consumers unaware of how much contaminated oil they might have consumed. “If the government cannot even manage a single barrel of cooking oil, how can it protect Taiwan?” she said. Huang Kuo-chang, chairman of the opposition Taiwan People’s Party, accused the DPP of applying a double standard by refusing to accept the political responsibility it demanded from the then KMT government during a 2014 contaminated oil scandal. That scandal saw hundreds of tons of recycled waste and animal feed oil illegally processed and sold as cooking oil. In its wake, the health minister resigned and the premier apologised. Opposition lawmakers have demanded Premier Cho Jung-tai resign and Lai apologise. The scandal has also drawn criticism from Beijing, which on Wednesday accused the DPP government of “attempting to conceal information”, saying its handling of the incident exposed its disregard for people’s health. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including its main international partner the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force. The criticism has been sharpened by the government’s initial decision to recall only products containing at least 20 per cent contaminated oil before changing course and expanding the recall to all affected products. Public frustration has also centred on the nearly eight weeks that passed between the first abnormal test results and the government’s disclosure of the contamination, although prosecutors allege the companies involved delayed reporting the problem. Cho denied concealing information, telling lawmakers on Tuesday there had been “no cover-up, only increasingly stringent measures”. He said authorities tightened recall standards as more evidence became available and pledged stronger inspections, tougher manufacturing oversight and amendments to food safety laws. Cabinet secretary general Xavier Chang said the government had been misled. “The focus now should be accelerating inspections and protecting food safety, not engaging in political mudslinging,” he said. Still, the episode has revived accusations that the DPP holds itself to a different standard from the one it applied while in opposition. In another example cited by critics, the DPP championed stronger parliamentary investigative powers while in opposition, but opposed reforms to expand such powers while in office. Chang Yuan-hsiang, a professor of political science at Soochow University in Taipei, said the scandal could prove even more politically damaging than the 2014 crisis because of the volume of products involved. “The impact of the Central Union case on the public is far greater than that of the 2014 Ting Hsin cooking oil scandal,” he said. Chang noted that the 2014 scandals were a defining issue in that year’s local elections, contributing to the KMT’s electoral collapse. Whether history repeats itself, however, will depend largely on centrist and moderate pro-DPP voters rather than either party’s core supporters, he said. “The scandal is likely to mobilise supporters on both sides. The key is how neutral and light-green voters respond. Those are the voters who are likely to determine the outcome.” In Taiwan’s politics, those who emphasise a distinct Taiwanese identity such as backers of the DPP are referred to as “green”, while those who call for closer ties with the Chinese mainland are called “blue”. With more than four months until polling day, Chang cautioned that it was too early to gauge the electoral impact. Niu Tse-hsun, a professor at Chinese Culture University in Taipei, said the government’s response had fallen short of basic crisis management principles – timeliness, honesty, accountability, empathy and consistent messaging. “If the government hopes to restore public confidence, it needs an apology, accountability and concrete measures to prevent similar incidents,” he said.

Will Taiwan’s food safety scandal wreck the DPP’s local election hopes?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The opposition has been handed the chance to portray the government as both ineffective and hypocritical ahead of the poll

The opposition has been handed the chance to portray the government as both ineffective and hypocritical ahead of the poll