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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Fukushima ban should be solved scientifically, Ko says
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, front row third left, is welcomed by his supporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Sunday evening after he returned from a visit to Japan. Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
CITY COUNCIL SESSION: The Taipei mayor was asked about the ban following his return from a trip to Japan. He also apologized for murmuring ‘trash’ last week
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
A ban on agricultural products and food from five Japanese prefectures near the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant should be solved scientifically, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲） said yesterday.
After returning from a four-day trip to Japan on Sunday evening, Ko yesterday reported to the Taipei City Council on plans for rejuvenating the city’s business areas, as well as education and transportation policies, where he was asked by city councilors about his stance toward lifting the central government’s ban.
After the Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster in March 2011, Taiwan banned all food imports from five Japanese prefectures — Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba — to reduce the risk of contaminated food being imported.
Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） Taipei City Councilor Chen Chung-wen （陳重文） handed a bag of imported Japanese food products to Ko and said although the ban has not been lifted, products from the five prefectures could be easily bought in Taipei, so the city government should enhance its inspections.
Given that Ko last week ate food produced in Fukushima during a visit to the prefecture and claimed it was safe, Chen asked if the mayor would lift the ban if he was elected president next year.
Ko said the question has nothing to do with the presidential election, but that he thinks Taiwan should follow the steps of the US and the EU, which have modified the standards for importing food products from the five prefectures based on scientific research.
KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Chih-ping （汪志冰） said the city council had passed a food safety self-governing ordinance in May 2017, stipulating that all food products produced or processed in the five prefectures cannot be sold in Taipei.
A national referendum in November last year also showed that the majority of Taiwanese were against lifting the ban, she added.
“Scientific problems should be solved scientifically,” Ko said.
Many day-to-day problems should be solved professionally according to science, not by putting labels on issues according to populism, the mayor said.
Before the session began yesterday morning, Ko apologized to the council for having murmured “trash” when answering questions put by Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-cheng （王世堅） on Monday last week.
Councilors on Wednesday last week passed a resolution that they would boycott Ko’s reports if he did not apologize.
Ko did not specifically apologize to Wang, but cited the council’s resolution, and said he was sorry that he answered beyond the scope of the question.
He said that he hoped city councilors and city government officials can show mutual respect.
Several city councilors asked Ko whether he would run for president next year.
“I really don’t feel like it,” he said.
He reiterated that he might not make a decision on the election until August.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
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