10-26 news: U.S. bone-in beef agreement leads to uproar in Taiwan
The country’s ruling Kuomintang caucus demanded that the health minister step down for lifting the ban without the parliament’s consent and threatened to freeze the health department’s budget, AFP reports. The minister, Yang Chih-liang, said he would step down if there was a demand for it.
Taiwan’s premier, Wu Den-yih, said that the country’s government will ensure that the agreement will not adversely affect local cattle producers. "One of our top guidelines in U.S. beef trade negotiations has been that we will not relax restrictions beyond what have been applied in the U.S. proper, the European Union, Canada and South Korea, " Wu argued, adding that the government has not budged from this stance in the whole process.