Opposition lawmakers hurled pig organs inside Taiwan’s parliament on Friday to protest the government’s decision to ease restrictions on pork imports from the United States.
Taiwan’s notoriously rambunctious legislature frequently sees chaotic clashes between rival lawmakers but Friday’s scuffles were particularly novel.
Lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang party dumped buckets of pork offal on the debating chamber floor and then proceeded to hurl intestines, hearts, liver, and other organs at their rivals.
Taiwan’s government recently announced it would allow imports of US pork fed with the additive ractopamine from 1 January.
The supplement improves leanness but is banned in places like the European Union and China.
Officials in Washington have made it clear restrictions on US pork and beef imports are a key stumbling block to the US and Taiwan signing a trade deal.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party, which commands a strong majority in parliament, hope the easing of restrictions will pave the way for an agreement.
