Premier Wu Den-yih on Tuesday countered a claim by American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt that the current controversy over US beef imports was not a real issue. Burghardt earlier said that US beef had been made a political issue ahead of city and county elections in December. But Premier Wu said that the issue reflected genuine concern about food safety among Taiwan's public.

The premier said, "In Burghardt's view, from his scientific point of view and experience with the United States and Europe, he feels that this is not a real issue. But for the 23 million people of Taiwan this is a real health issue. I think we have to respect this feeling. I think he will also appreciate that the people of Taiwan are very concerned about food safety. Perhaps there is some difference between Western and Eastern culture."

Meanwhile Taiwan's legislature remains in a stalemate over the issue. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has continued to occupy the speaker's podium to stall passage of revisions to Taiwan's food safety laws. The DPP is calling for an explicit ban on the import of US beef offal and ground beef over fears of mad cow disease. These products are not mentioned in the proposed revisions to the law.