China has destroyed several shipments of imported Taiwanese food products after companies failed to label them as produced in “Taiwan Area (台灣地區)” or “Taiwan Area, China (中國台灣地區),” as required by Chinese officials, businesses said.
Hwa Mei Food Co (樺美食品) chairman Lu Ming-yen (呂明炎) said he has personal knowledge of three cases in which Taiwanese import products were destroyed because their label did not use the word “area.”
Lu learned of those incidents after he last year became the president of a Changhua-based trade and export association, he said.
“In each case, Taiwanese manufacturers who were unaware of the rule had labeled their product’s place of origin as Chinese Taiwan and the Chinese customs office destroyed all their merchandise,” he said.
Chinese officials started to insist on the word “area” after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government took office, Lu said.
Customs officials at the ports of Pingtan, Xiamen and Dadeng in China’s Fujian Province are responsible for the majority of cases in which Taiwanese food imports were destroyed or delayed, he said.
The loss of a shipment usually costs businesses between NT$3 million and NT$4 million (US$101,550 and US$135,400), Lu said.
“Although there are inherent risks in doing business with China, it is preposterous that businesspeople now stand to lose millions over a word,” he said.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration created excessive risks by developing too many trade ties with China, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said on Sunday.
“It is high time for Taiwan to diversify its markets and develop bilateral or multilateral ties with other countries and regions,” Lee said “The New Southbound Policy and enhancing our economic exchanges with EU countries are important steps toward addressing the issue, and we should stay the course.”
Although China has stepped up economic coercion to influence Taiwanese politics, its obsession with phrasing and gestures would prove counterproductive, Lee said.
“Those little tricks will only push Taiwan away and harm the interests of Taiwanese businesses,” he said. “The government should respond to this development by taking steps to protect our businesses and do so quickly.”
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
RSS