Taipei - A Taiwan student has consumed cow dung in protest against the government's decision to renew US beef imports, local television reported Thursday. The student, Chu Cheng-chi, of the National Taiwan University's PhD programme in sociology, was shown placing the cow dung on an open hamburger bun, served with lettuce and sliced tomato, and eating the "dungburger" in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei.
"The Ma government decided to renew the import of US beef, saying it would not create any health hazard to us, but once the beef is imported, it would be sold everywhere and we would have no way to avoid it," he said in an interview aired by various local cable news channels, including TVBS.
Chu, who felt sick and threw up after eating his burger, said he did this to tell the "insensitive government" the harm it would create over its beef-import decision.
The Health Ministry announced Friday that Taiwan would end its six-year ban on imports of US bone-in beef and organs that have a higher risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad-cow disease.
The decision sparked strong protest from the public and lawmakers of both the ruling and opposition parties, who said the move would jeopardize Taiwanese health.
On Wednesday President Ma Ying-jeou assured the public of safety in consuming the US-raised and processed meat.
