PUBLIC HEARING ON FUKUSHIMA IMPORTS ENDS IN CLASHES |日食品輸台公聽會 花蓮場也爆嚴重衝突

On November 14, the final public hearing on whether to lift a ban on food imports from nuclear disaster zones in Japan was held in Hualien. This one was no surprise, the last hearing was also swarmed with protesters who wanted to stop the meeting. There was even bloodshed at the scene as protesters shouted that the meeting was invalid. On November 14, hundreds of Hualien residents crowded a public hearing to protest against the government's decision to resume food imports from Japanese prefectures affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Residents scuffled with the police, and the meeting never started. ==HUALIEN PUBLIC HEARING CROWD== Police retreat! Police retreat! ==YU SHU-CHEN KMT HUALIEN COUNTY COUNCILLOR== Where is the chairperson? What power do you have to rule over the police ? During the conflict, former DPP legislator Lu Po-Chi attacked Kuomintang Hualien County Council member Ho Li-Tai. Lu's behavior aroused public anger, and there were several clashes and fights between DPP and KMT members. The police had no choice but to take Lu away from the scene. ==HO LEE-TAI KMT HUALIEN COUNTY COUNCILLOR== There was a man called Lu Po-Chi, who used to be a legislator from Hualien, pushed me from the back heavily. Some residents saw what he did to me and threw themselves on him, shouting "How can you hit a person?". They believe Lu's behavior should be condemned. ==CHANG CHIH-KUAN KMT HUALIEN COUNTY COUNCILLOR== How can he hit county council members who are protesting? As one of the members, I should protect my colleagues. Therefore, I. with member Chang Cheng-Chih, pushed forward. If he hit us, then we should hit him back. Residents shouted "invalid public hearing" and "the meeting is over" because they were angered by the fact that no Hualien representatives were informed of the hearing by the Legislative Yuan. The residents did not let officials from the central government to speak a word, so the officials left the meeting by the back door. ==LEE HSU-NING Dep. CEO, EY Eastern Taiwan Joint Services Cent. == We have given ten public hearings so far, and this was the last one. If the officials think there is still a need to address the issue clearly, they may take different approaches by using the media or the Internet, to explain the matter. This was the final public hearing held by the Legislative Yuan. Most attendees and representatives who protested at the meeting were from the KMT. The Eastern Taiwan Joint Services Center, Legislative Yuan, said they will continue to communicate with the residents through different channels. TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH 為了表達對政府即將開放日本食品的不滿，花蓮公聽會上擠爆了上百名鄉親，會議根本沒有機會開始，雙方就因為警察進場拉起人牆而引爆衝突。 ==花蓮公聽會現場== 警察撤退 警察撤退 ==國民黨花蓮縣議員 游淑貞== 主席你在哪裡啊 你有什麼權力動用警察權 過程中，國民黨籍的縣議員何禮台，突然遭到前民進黨籍立委盧博基攻擊，這個舉動馬上引起眾怒，追打拉扯不斷，警察只好趕緊先架離盧博基離開。 ==國民黨花蓮縣議員 何禮台== 有位叫盧博基的先生 過去花蓮縣的立委 從後面推我很大一把 旁邊我們的鄉親看到 你怎麼可以打人 一撲而上 認為盧博基這樣子的行為 應該受到譴責 ==國民黨花蓮縣議員 張智冠== 他怎麼打我們 在這邊抗議的縣議員呢 我身為議員 我當然要保護我同事嘛 所以我跟張正治議員 我們才會往前面推 他打我們 我們就打回來嘛 由於現場民眾認為，這個公聽會，花蓮沒有任何民代接獲到行政院的通知，所以也不讓中央部會官員發表任何意見，大家高喊公聽會無效、散會等口號，行政院官員只好從後門離開。 ==行政院東部辦公室副執行長 李旭寧== 十場都已經有辦了 今天是最後一場 今天最後一場 如果說 他們認為還有需要的話 可能會利用其他管道 運用媒體啦 或是網路來跟大家做說明 而花蓮這場公聽會，是行政院在全台各縣市辦的最後一場，參與抗議的群眾和民代，幾乎清一色都是國民黨籍，行政院東部辦公室強調，會再找尋其他管道和東部民眾溝通。 記者 溫嘉楷 花蓮報導