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Over 70% Taiwanese oppose US pork imports: KMT survey

Opposition to imports of pork products containing ractopamine increased by 5 percent in a month

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"Ractopamine pig" takes part in a protest in November 2020.  

"Ractopamine pig" takes part in a protest in November 2020.   (CNA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A poll released by a Kuomintang (KMT) affiliated think tank on Thursday (Nov. 26) showed that over 70 percent of respondents oppose the lifting of a ban on the import of pork containing ractopamine.

At a press conference on Thursday, the National Policy Foundation (NPF, 國政基金會) released the results of a poll showing that 70.6 percent of respondents oppose the import of pork products containing ractopamine from the United States. Just 22.8 percent are in favor of such imports.

As for the relationship between Taiwan and the U.S., 38.5 percent of respondents believe that over the past four years, the U.S. under President Donald Trump provided Taiwan more substantial help or benefits. On the other hand, 44.9 percent people believe the U.S. during this period gave little in the way of help to the country.

As for U.S. policy after president-elect Joe Biden takes office, 20.9 percent of respondents believe the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will bully Taiwan even more. Meanwhile, 61.6 percent believed the situation will remain unchanged.

In terms of cross-strait relations, the poll shows that 58.9 percent of respondents believe the government cannot negotiate with the other side of the strait to reach a consensus better than the "1992 consensus." Also, 65.8 percent of survey takers stated they were even more concerned about the worsening of cross-strait relations.

Over 70% Taiwanese oppose US pork imports: KMT survey
Protest against imports of pork containing ractopamine. (Facebook, Chiang Wan-an photo)

At the same time, 43.5 percent of respondents believe the "anti-China" stance adopted by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government is not in the long-term interest of Taiwan.

National Policy Foundation Deputy Chief Executive Huang Hsin-hua (黃心華) said that since the government announced the opening of Taiwan's market to pork containing ractopamine on Aug. 28, opposition has ranged between 60 to 70 percent, reported CNA.

KMT Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝衣鳳), who also attended the news conference, said the public is becoming increasingly concerned about the issue as the deadline to lift the ban nears on Jan. 1. He called on the government to respect public health and reverse its decision.

The poll was conducted for NPF by Taiwan Real Survey from Nov. 17-19 via Random DigitDialing (RDD). The poll gathered valid responses from 1,078 adults over 20 years of age and had a sampling error of plus or minus 2.98 percentage points, with a confidence level of 95 percent.