It's a bumper year for crabs this year at China's famed Yangcheng Lake, widely reputed to produce the world's finest hairy crabs. But fans of the hairy crustaceans in Taiwan look set to miss out as stricter safety standards have prevented imports.
China's Zhejiang News reported on Sept. 14 that production this year will reach 2,200 tonnes, a 10 percent increase from last year.
"This year, crab-lovers are in luck," the Zhejiang News quoted Yang Wei-long (
However, mere days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, which signals the beginning of peak crab season, not a single shipment of crabs has arrived in Taiwan.
"Hairy crabs won't make it to Taiwan this year," said You Zhong-ming (
The local Chinese-language China Times quoted Yu as saying that Taiwan's different inspection standards and quality of testing equipment means that China cannot export crabs to Taiwan with confidence that the crabs will not be sent back.
Last year, a scandal erupted in Taiwan when hairy crabs from China were found to contain traces of the banned antibiotic nitrofuran. Then Bureau of Food Safety director Hsia Tung-ming (
Bureau officials assured the public in July that stepped up inspection procedures instituted in the wake of the debacle meant that they could enjoy the imported crabs safely this season.
In the absence of hairy crabs from China, gourmets are turning to other varieties of crabs as well as hairy crabs raised in Taiwan.
William Chen (
"I can honestly say that crabs raised in Taiwan taste just as good as the ones I had back then," Chen said.
As for the popular belief that the best crabs must come from Yangcheng Lake?
"It's an open secret that most crabs sold as Yangcheng Lake-grown are fakes," Chen said. "Crabs grown in ordinary ponds are merely dunked in the Yangcheng for a few weeks before sale to fetch a better price."
Local hairy crab farm operators agree with Chen.
"Our customers tell us our crabs are just as tasty, but with firmer flesh," said Huang Chien-chuan (黃建川), who grows hairy crabs in Wanli Township (萬里).
However, Huang also said that demand would likely outstrip supply this year because of the lack of Chinese crabs and that prices could go up to NT$600 for premium crab.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
The Republic of China Army Command yesterday relieved Kinmen Defense Battalion commander after authorities indicted the officer on charges connected to using methamphetamine. The Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday detained Colonel He (何) after the Coast Guard linked him to drug shipments and proceeded to charge him yesterday for using and possessing crystal meth. The man was released on a NT$50,000 bail and banned from leaving Kinmen, the office said. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) told a news conference yesterday that He has been removed and another officer is taking over the unit as the acting commander. The military
RSS