Two Chinese pork jerky products seized at customs have tested positive for African swine fever, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday.
Tests found the two products collected from the quarantine amnesty bins at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on Jan. 23 and 24 — one from Jiangsu Province and the other without a label indicating origin — had strains of the virus identical to those found in China, the council said.
The results brought the number of confiscated pork products testing positive for the disease to 20, council data showed.
Photo: CNA
Two more Chinese visitors on Saturday were denied entry into the country after failing to pay a NT$200,000 (US$6,505) fine for the illegal import of pork products, bringing the total of barred visitors since the regulation took effect on Jan. 25 to six, all Chinese, council data showed.
The council reiterated that it hoped Beijing authorities would provide more information about the disease, after the Rural Development Foundation on Saturday received a response from China’s Association for Agricultural Exchange Across the Taiwan Strait.
The foundation has since 2004 served as an information channel with the association, which is governed by Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
It first wrote to the Chinese association on Dec. 20 last year to request information about the African swine fever outbreak in China, but the latter replied on Jan. 15 that the outbreaks were “sporadic” and called on Taiwanese to stop spreading false information, according to copies of the letters shown on the foundation’s Web site.
It wrote to the association again on Jan. 25 and received a reply on Saturday.
The disease has spread to 25 Chinese provinces, municipalities and regions, with 950,000 pigs having been culled, but blocks over infection areas in 23 provinces have been lifted, showing China’s quarantine measures were effective and that the outbreaks have abated, the association said.
While it was a sign of progress that the Chinese side finally replied, the information was of no avail as the same data is available from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the council said on Saturday, adding that it expected Chinese authorities to provide “complete” information about the outbreaks.
The council last year said it wanted to send a delegation of academics and technical experts to China to collect information on the outbreaks, but has yet to receive a response from the other side, council Chief Secretary Chang Chih-sheng (張致盛) said yesterday.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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