On Monday, China announced the lifting of its ban on imports of Taiwanese pomeloes, bringing an end to the two-year restriction.
However, according to a detailed list published by the Chinese government, import permits would be limited to Taiwanese pomeloes produced by orchards in Hualien County. Other areas, including Tainan, Taiwan’s largest pomelo-growing region, were not included on the new list.
Not only did these omissions cause many to question the rationale for this decision, it exposed China’s political manipulation of cross-strait economic and trade relations.
Beginning in August 2022, China temporarily paused imports of Taiwanese citrus fruits, including pomeloes, citing pesticide residue and quarantine issues.
However, this week’s measure to resume imports has clear implications for China’s goal of achieving unification with Taiwan.
According to a statement by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華): “As long as the so-called 1992 consensus is upheld and Taiwanese independence is opposed, then China and Taiwan are like one family.”
This kind of rhetoric is clearly an attempt to use economic and trade benefits as baits to hook Taiwan’s cities and counties, and gain political influence by creating divisions within the nation.
The two main production sites of Taiwanese pomeloes are Madou District (麻豆) in Tainan and Rueisui Township (瑞穗) in Hualien County, which account for 29 percent and 19 percent of Taiwan’s pomelo production respectively. In this case, China only approved Hualien’s orchards and did not include those in Tainan.
This choice has led some to suspect that China purposefully excluded Tainan, where the ruling Democratic Progressive Party has long held office, with the goal of exerting political pressure.
Beijing said that only packaging companies and orchards that have been examined and approved by Chinese officials would be allowed to export to China.
In response, Taiwan’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine called on China to provide more transparent quarantine terms and conditions to avoid the measure being used as an excuse for political manipulation.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said that the way in which China resumed Taiwanese pomelo imports is similar to its earlier actions on Taiwanese pineapple, sugar apple and grouper imports.
In all of these cases, China used economic and trade measures as a tool to promote “reunification” by only allowing imports of products from specific areas.
The MAC said that China should not use economic and trade measures as an economic coercion tool against Taiwan’s agricultural and fishing industries. It also appealed to Taiwanese farmers to respond to China’s market instability with caution to protect themselves from future harm.
On the surface, China’s decision to lift its ban on Taiwanese pomelo imports appears to be an act of goodwill by the Chinese government, but its selective nature and limited conditions reveal its true intentions.
To resist China’s economic pressure, Taiwan should remain alert and implement strategies to strengthen the pluralization of domestic markets and decrease reliance on a single market. This would help to ensure the long-term, stable development of our agriculture and fishing industries.
Gong Lin-dong is a research fellow who focuses on the Chinese Communist Party.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of