Executive Yuan Announces Two More Batches of Toxic Oil; Huang Kuo-chang Criticizes Cho Jung-tai for Being Late to React: 'Taichung Already Revealed This Last Week—How Long Will You Cling to Power?'

On the morning of April 20, Premier Cho Jung-tai convened a progress meeting on the Chung Lian edible soybean salad oil incident. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare reported inspection results, confirming that two additional batches of oil products failed safety standards after testing both upstream crude oil and downstream end products.

However, Taiwan People's Party Chair Huang Kuo-chang posted on Facebook questioning the timing, pointing out that the two problematic batch numbers had already been publicly disclosed by Taichung City's Food Safety Office the previous week. He asked whether Premier Cho was simply reacting late or engaging in political theater.

On the 20th, Cho convened relevant agencies including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Executive Yuan's Food Safety Office, and Consumer Protection Committee to discuss the test results of the Chung Lian oil incident, as well as the progress on amendments to the Food Safety and Hygiene Management Act and its subsidiary regulations.

Regarding 30 batches of oil produced by Chung Lian Oils between April and June 2026, Cho had instructed during a special meeting on July 13 to complete all inspections within one week to fully assess the risks.

Huang noted that on July 19, Cho had announced that a comprehensive inspection report would be released on the 20th, with the Executive Yuan providing a clear public statement. Yet, after waiting all day, no press conference was held. Instead, on the evening of the 20th, the FDA issued a press release announcing the test results of the 30 batches produced from April to June.

Huang criticized the administration for avoiding direct public accountability, suggesting it was due to an inability to respond to scrutiny. He mocked the announcement as 'all thunder and no rain,' noting that the Executive Yuan's statement confirmed 'two more batches failed inspection'—specifically batch numbers '313-1150408' and '315-1150413.'

The issue, Huang emphasized, was that these two batch numbers had already been flagged as problematic by Taichung City's Food Safety Office last Thursday. 'Is Cho Jung-tai just catching up, or is this a farce?' he questioned.

Even more absurd, Huang added, was that three weeks after the incident broke, the FDA only announced on the 19th that it had commissioned the Food Industry Development Research Institute to establish an 'Independent Investigation Team for the Chung Lian Oils Incident,' with the team scheduled to enter the factory on the 21st.

He said the government's response was beyond 'slow'—it was 'lunar walking.' Such negligence in handling a food safety issue of national concern made a mockery of Cho's claim at the DPP national convention on the 19th that 'the Executive Yuan team has acted very carefully and swiftly.'

'How much longer will Cho Jung-tai cling to power?' Huang asked, calling for accountability.