Ractopamine-laden pork has created a battle in Taiwan, and both the ruling party and their opposition are losers. They both need to find a way out of this battle and clean up the battlefield. President Tsai Ing-wen should take the initiative to invite the leaders of the opposition parties for a talk to break the deadlock between the ruling party and the opposition that has wasted domestic resources and damaged the international image of Taiwan. They should reach a multi-partisan consensus on important issues such as the opening of the market for Ractopamine-laden pork from the U.S., the fight against the pandemic, and the international situation after Biden has been elected as president. The first step of a multi-partisan dialogue is an important one to take, which should be the historical responsibility that Tsai should bear during her second term.

The images of pig guts flying in the congress, parliament members exchanging blows, and the Premier finishing his policy address in four minutes all made international news. Taiwan is reminding the international community in a very embarrassing way that although Taiwan has delivered a brilliant result in terms of the prevention of the pandemic, the conflicts between the two major parties have reemerged. They have revived the ridicule and negative memories of the chaos in Taiwan’s congress and shadowed Taiwan’s pride of democracy.

Ever since the start of the controversy of Ractopamine-laden pork, both the ruling party and the opposition have misjudged the situation. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wanted to pass the law when Kuomintang (KMT) was weak, but they did not expect that the public backlash would still rise, and the “Autumn Struggle” demonstration this year was also stronger than what they expected. The governance satisfaction of Tsai and Premier Su Tseng-chang has been declining. Although KMT’s filibuster to boycott Su’s policy address worked in the short-term, the public’s satisfaction with them hasn’t improved. They were first to import Ractopamine-laden beef, and the public doesn’t support a chronicle deadlock in the congress. So far, there has not been a winner out of this conflict, and the society is seriously torn apart with the international image of Taiwan damaged.

Now that Su has finished his policy address, we could expect the momentum of the conflict to snowball into political capital that would be mobilized again to appeal to fundamentalist supporters in the local election of 2022 if such a conflict is not resolved. However, could the society of Taiwan sustain the continuous fights between the ruling and the opposition until the next election? If they cannot work together, how can they stand up to the increasingly severe internal and external challenges?

Let’s first look at the post-election situation in the U.S. that affects global political and economic development. After Trump’s approach has been called to a halt and Biden has announced his team of national security, how should Taiwan face the new phase of Taiwan-U.S. relations and find the best positioning for itself in the confrontation between the two powers of the U.S. and China? Regarding important issues such as Taiwan’s entry into international organizations, how should the ruling and opposition parties stop the vicious struggle and work together to actively fight for them overseas?

These major challenges concern the survival and the development of Taiwan. Leaders of important parties should sit down for a rational dialogue to build consensus and to show solidarity.

Let’s take another look at how the world is guarding against the pandemic in the coming winter. With the recurrence of the pandemic in various countries, it is inevitable to tighten border control. But how should a tightened border control accommodate the protection of human rights? How should we determine the level of measures against the pandemic during winter and win the support of the public? After the front against the pandemic is stretched, how should the various rescue and revitalization plans be done correctly and well? Seeing that the battle against the pandemic may extend to the end of next year, it is also necessary for the government and the opposition to communicate on these issues.

Don’t forget that Tsai has just emphasized the importance of cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties during her talk on the National Day this year. At that time, she took examples of multi-partisan cooperation and solidarity from occasions such as “the opposition proposal of an act to improve Taiwan-U.S. relations enjoyed bipartisan support” and “the mayors of the six spacial municipalities joined to protest and successfully changed the practice of international organizations that dwarfs Taiwan.” Compared to these two examples, both sides need to show sincerity for dialogues when it comes to Ractopamine-laden pork, the guard against the pandemic, and the new situation between Taiwan and the U.S.

The DPP government has delivered good results in their fights against the pandemic this year, and various economic indicators such as GDP, figures of economic growth, and the stock market are all very impressive. Because of this, Tsai should show her generosity and vision to discuss with leaders of the opposition parties major issues where people would like to see multi-partisan cooperation. For someone who does not have pressure to run a re-election campaign, this could be an important way to unite the society.

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