DPP sacrificing people's health for political interests: mainland spokesperson

BEIJING - The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' move to trade food safety and the Taiwan people's health for selfish political interests is doomed to fail, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said Wednesday.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the comments in response to a media question about DPP's attempts to join trade deals, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), at the expense of importing unsafe U.S. and Japanese food.

Stressing that Taiwan is part of China, Zhu said that any country that has diplomatic relations with China should not discuss or sign any official agreements and deals related to sovereignty with Taiwan.

Taiwan's participation in regional economic cooperation should be based on the one-China principle, Zhu said.

According to opinion polls on the island, over 80 percent of people in Taiwan oppose importing U.S. pork and beef containing ractopamine, Zhu said.

Colluding with external forces, the DPP authorities, however, insist on harming Taiwan people's health for political benefits, thus triggering fears and indignation among people on the island, Zhu said.

According to the Food Safety Law, the mainland prohibits the imports of pork, beef and their products containing ractopamine, Zhu noted, adding that the mainland will take measures to prevent substandard meat products entering the mainland's market.