TAIWAN PRESIDENT LEE TENG-HUI WIPES HIS MOUTH WHILE EATING PORK, 1997-04-09 (photo)

With Vice President Lien Chan (R) at his side, Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui wipes his mouth with the back of his hand while tucking into a braised pig knuckle in Taipei at a pork "eat-in" organised by the ruling Nationalist Party to prove that pork is safe to eat, April 9. An islandwide outbreak of the highly contagious hog foot-and-mouth disease has forced Taiwan to ban all pork exports and mount a massive drive to slaughter all pigs at some 2,500 affected farms - about 2.16 million of Taiwan's 14 million pigs. Officials, meatpackers and pig farmers have organised numerous public eat-ins to counter public fears and reverse a collapse of pork prices, insisting that the epidemic is under control and that pork bought in markets is safe. The slogan on their vests reads: "Eating pork is safe and healthy. TAIWAN PORK