Mad cow protests in Taiwan get crazy

About two weeks ago I talked about how the protests in Taiwan over the importation of American beef are more about anxiety over a loss of sovereignty to the People’s Republic of  China than about any serious concerns over possible mad cow disease. Well, this has only become more obvious as the debates and protests continue. For example, DPP caucus whip Pan Meng-an says “The [lifting of restrictions] on US beef became effective spontaneously, without legislative approval, as did the financial MOU with China. Will [the government’s plan to sign an economic cooperative and framework agreement] be next?” And whether or not allegations that DPP Chairperson Tsai Ying-wen secretly met with American Institute in Taiwan (the unofficial embassy) director William Stanton to promise that the protests were purely an election ploy to discredit the ruling KMT and not a sign of anti-Americanism turn out to be true, that is also clearly a major impetus for the protests.

But what is a mass political protest without a little crazy? Well, some was provided by Chu Cheng-chi (朱政騏), a PhD student at National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of Sociology, who posted a video of himself eating a “burger” made out of actual cow-shit to youtube as a symbol of…something I guess.

Chu Cheng-chi (朱政騏), a graduate student at NTU’s Graduate Institute of Sociology, lay down outside the legislature’s front gate and covered himself with a straw mat — a gesture Chu said symbolized how the poor cover the body of a deceased person.

He said he would continue his hunger strike to protest a proposal by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus to amend the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法).

Chu was referring to a proposal the KMT put forward last Tuesday to authorize the government to “draw up measures to inspect beef products from areas where the risk of mad cow disease has been under control,” instead of two other prosoals for a ban on “risky” beef products from the US.

Chu began a “lie in” protest in a coffin in front of the legislature on Saturday and vowed to stage a hunger strike until today, but police fined him and forcibly removed the coffin on Sunday night, saying Chu had violated the Road Traffic Management and Punishment Act (道路交通管理處罰條例).

Huang Tai-shan (黃泰山), a doctoral student from National Tsing Hua University, who also covered himself with a grass mat next to Chu, said five more doctoral students would join the protest should police forcibly remove Chu and Huang.

But of course, you really want to see the video itself. Enjoy.

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After the opening vignette of him tasting a cow patty is the opening title of:

I eat cow dung, I protest!

My rough translation of his monologue is as follows:

I have in front of me some delicious edible beef.
After the Ma adminstration opens the door to American Beef, it will turn into beef that one could fear is poisonous.
I am just an ordinary youth who decided to protest against the government.
I have no power to change things, I am only able to make my own body suffer.
This is the most serious kind of protest!
I am now going to take Taiwanese cow dung and prepare it.
Consuming American beef will absolutely be scarier than eating the dung of a Taiwanese cow!

Followed by another title reading:

Eating American beef is scarier than eating Taiwanese cow dung!

They then drive out to Qingtiangang (擎天崗), a ranch area created during Japanese occupation, now part of Yangmingshan National Park to collect the fresh cow dung as cloying music plays in the background. You finally see him sit in front of the presidential building, prepare the burger, and eat some of it while reciting more nonsense about how he can “absolutely guarantee that it is still safer than American beef” and that “the Ma Yingjiu administration is opening up to American beef and not protecting the safety, well-being, and health of the people.” He then pukes in the bushes.

Enjoy the e-coli, chu. E-coli, for those who forget, is a bacteria found mainly in the digestive tracts and feces of animals, which generally poisons humans when it is transmitted by accidental contamination of meat by feces from the same animal when it is slaughtered.  According to the CDC, e-coli poisoning kills at least 60 Americans and sickens 2000 every year. For comparison, take a look at the CDC’s own stats on mad cow disease-showing only 3 confirmed cases in the US to date. And note that these are the numbers of cases in COWS, to date there have been exactly zero cases of humans contracting the disease from cows raised in the US.

9 thoughts on “Mad cow protests in Taiwan get crazy”

  1. The crazy partisanship in Taiwan (and increasingly HK) poltiics is the best argument for the PRC: chinese culture is incompatible with democracy.

  2. Or perhaps that American culture (or at least Fox News culture) is incompatible with democracy. Although most cultures for most of history have been pretty incompatible with democracy.

  3. Of course the irony there is that because the US beef industry is so poorly regulated, the chances that there is dung and the accompanying E. Coli ON your US beef are much higher than you would hope. The US meat industry is ridiculously powerful, and requirements that distributors NOT test the product they receive for distribution are, I believe, not uncommon. The official FDA (? I think) guidelines for how hard you should cook your hamburgers and steaks are ridiculously conservative (unless you like everything “well done”) by way of compensation.

  4. well, at least I got people to comment in Taiwan news! Nothing like being outrageous.

    Even in US Beef is actual shit, the reaction of the Taiwan green camp is just too stupid. Eating dung? Please. What’s all that bullshit about “Taiwan beef will disappear, you won’t have a choice”?
    If Japan can import US beef and nothing happen, how is Taiwan gonna be different?
    But Taiwanese politics are not about rational discourse. It’s not in the culture.

  5. Greetings Taiwan,

    I wish to send you some data on Mad Cow disease in the USA, and potential of CJD there from. you see, the UKBSEnvCJD only theory is incorrect. there were studies done in Mission Texas long ago, where when USA scrapie is transmitted to USA cattle, the pathology does not present itself as tyipcal UK c-BSE. so why then would any human BSE i.e. CJD, look like UK BSE ???

    Tuesday, November 10, 2009

    Surveillance On the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and rabies in Taiwan and USA

    http://usdavskorea.blogspot.com/2009/11/surveillance-on-bovine-spongiform.html

    Tuesday, November 17, 2009

    SEAC EFFECT OF AGE ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES SEAC 103/2

    http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/11/seac-effect-of-age-on-pathogenesis-of.html

    TSS

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