Taiwanese lawmakers throw pig guts on Parliament floor to protest US pork imports

Taiwanese lawmakers threw pig guts on the Parliament floor and got into fist fights to protest an expected policy change permitting U.S. pork and beef imports.

The opposition Nationalist party (KMT) threw bags of pig organs on the Parliament floor as Premier Su Tseng-chang was supposed to give a report to lawmakers on the pork policy. 

Su’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers attempted to stop the demonstration, resulting in fights breaking out, The Associated Press reported Friday. One DPP lawmaker reportedly wrestled a KMT lawmaker to the ground amid the chaos. 

The disorder came after President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration decided to end a ban on imports of U.S. pork and beef in August. The lifting of the ban, set for January, signals a move toward a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. 

The updated policy intends to allow imports of pork with approved levels of residue of ractopamine, which is a drug that some farmers put in animal feed to get more lean meat. But thousands marched in protest of the new policy on Sunday. 

The opposition party members who left pig guts on the Parliament floor wore black T-shirts with the text “Oppose ractopamine-pork.”

“When you were in the opposition, you were against U.S. pork. Now that you’re in power, you’ve become a supporter of U.S. pork,” KMT legislator Lin Wei-chou said, according to the AP.

DPP legislative member Hsu Sheng-chieh said, “You have blocked Premier Su from reposting to the Parliament for 12 times. Please return to reason.”