Taiwan postpones referendums as it continues to battle Covid-19 surge

The authorities have delayed four ballots until December, including one on a proposal to allow US pork imports containing a controversial additive

The island has been battling a surge in cases over the past two months, including a new outbreak at a market in Taipei

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Taiwan is battling a surge in Covid-19 cases. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:12pm, 2 Jul 2021Updated: 7:12pm, 2 Jul 2021

Taiwan will postpone four referendums due to be held next month because of fears about the spread of Covid-19, the election commission said on Friday, as the government raced to contain a new outbreak at a Taipei wholesale food market.

Taiwan has been dealing with a cluster of community infections since mid-May, but numbers had begun stabilising in recent weeks and are still comparatively low.

Taiwan’s election commission said that four referendums scheduled for August 28 would be postponed until December 18 due to the Covid situation.

“Given that the referendum day will be the country’s largest movement and gathering of people, at this time of the pandemic spreading it is advisable to avoid the serious consequences of an outbreak from people getting together,” commission chairman Lee Chin-yung said.

The two most important ones are on 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 terminal to protect the maritime environment.

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