Thousands of people gathered in Taipei Sunday for the annual labor march called the “Autumn Struggle.” This year, in addition to protests about education and freedom of speech, impending imports of pork from the U.S. were a key target.
The Taiwan government in August announced it would lift a ban on U.S. pork and beef imports starting Jan. 1. Ever since, there have been growing concerns over the safety of the pork, which may contain ractopamine, an additive used in the U.S. to enhances leanness but is banned in the European Union and China.
The country’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang has been strongly opposed to the easing of restrictions, and many of its members and other supporters joined the march mainly for the purpose of opposing the rule reversal.
The Reuters news service reports politicians in the U.S. and Taiwan see it as a first step toward a long sought-after free trade deal between the two countries.
