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One of the top stories from this past week involved Typhoon Dujuan, which swept through Taiwan on Monday leaving three dead and 376 injured.
Typhoon Dujuan also left 540,000 households without electricity and 180,000 households without water.
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Also this past week, Deputy US Trade Representative Robert Holleyman said that the issue of US beef and pork imports to Taiwan had complicated ongoing discussions on a bilateral investment agreement (BIA). The US and Taiwan held a 9th round of trade talks under the Trade Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in Taipei on Thursday.
Taiwan had banned US beef imports due to traces of a leanness enhancing drug called ractopamine. That restriction was lifted in 2012, setting the stage for the resumption of TIFA talks in 2013.
However, Deputy Economics Minister Cho Shih-chao says that the US does not believe Taiwan is complying with its agreement on US meat imports to Taiwan. That’s because Taiwan has not yet set an allowable level of ractopamine in meat imports.
Holleyman said that if he is unable to give a satisfactory answer to Congress about Taiwan’s compliance, it would be very hard to get Congress to sign the BIA.
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And finally, this past week, Premier Mao Chi-kuo has rejected the resignation of Culture Minister Hung Meng-chi. Hung tendered his resignation on Wednesday over allegations that he planned to offer Kuomintang lawmakers NT$2.5 million (US$76,000) each in return for supporting his budget proposal.
Hung said at a news conference on Wednesday that there was never a plan to bribe legislators. He said it was mentioned briefly at a meeting, but that he rejected it.
Hung said that only three department heads, the ministry’s chief secretary and himself were present at the meeting. The minister said he was sorry the news had brought damage to the ministry’s image, and he tendered his resignation to take responsibility.
A Cabinet spokesman said that the Premier has made a phone call to Hung and asked him to stay on, while his letter of resignation had been rejected. In response, Hung thanked the Premier and said he would take some time to think about his decision.