More than 99 percent of pineapples sold to China passed inspections, the government said yesterday, after China earlier in the day abruptly suspended imports of pineapples from the nation, which Taipei called an “unfriendly” move.
From Monday, China is to stop importing pineapples from Taiwan, the Chinese General Administration of Customs said.
The regulation is a normal measure for ensuring biosafety, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) said in a news release later yesterday.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Since last year, Chinese customs officials have repeatedly seized pineapples imported from Taiwan that carried “perilous organisms,” Ma said.
Were the organisms to spread in China, they would pose a serious threat to agricultural and ecological safety, he said.
The import ban is scientifically rational and complies with Chinese law, he said.
Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said in a statement that since last year, 99.79 percent of Taiwan’s pineapples sold to China passed testing at customs.
China’s action is “unfriendly,” Chang said.
The Council of Agriculture (COA) announced that it would spend NT$1 billion (US$35.33 million) to promote pineapple sales at home and abroad, while President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Vice President William Lai (賴清德) would take action to support domestic growers by consuming more pineapples themselves, Chang said.
Farmers can rest assured that the government would do its utmost to help them, he said, adding that hopefully, Taiwanese would support the local pineapple industry, just like Australians supported their country’s wine industry after China imposed high tariffs on those products.
COA Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said that the council had received China’s “unilateral notice” on Thursday evening, without any warning.
It attempted to express its concern to its counterpart in China, but the Chinese contact did not answer a telephone call, Chen said.
Taiwan produces nearly 420,000 tonnes of pineapples every year, and has exported 6,200 batches to China since last year, with only 13 batches, totaling 141 tonnes, failing tests, meaning the qualification rate was 99.79 percent, he said.
In “normal” international trade practices, this qualification rate is top-notch, while the few pineapples that did not pass were approved after fumigation, Chen said.
Beijing probably imposed the sanction because Taiwan’s pineapple production season is about to start, which would go against normal international trade practice, he said.
Data from the council showed that plantations in Pingtung County produce 30 percent of the nation’s pineapples, followed by Kaohsiung and Tainan (14 percent each), Chiayi County (13 percent), Nantou County (12 percent) and Hualien and Taitung counties (percentages uncertain).
Pineapple exports to all nations totaled 31,927 tonnes in 2018 and 51,476 tonnes in 2019, the data showed.
China accounted for 97 percent of exported pineapples, followed by Japan (2 percent) and Hong Kong (1 percent), the data showed.
For all produce, exports to China last year made up 20.7 percent, totaling more than US$1 billion, followed by Japan (15.5 percent) and the US (13.7 percent), the data showed.
Additional reporting by Wen Chun-hua
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS