The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday said it would budget more than NT800 million (US$26.92 million) to help Taiwanese fish farmers, after China this week implemented a ban on grouper imports from Taiwan.
The Chinese General Administration of Customs on Friday last week announced that it would suspend the imports from Monday, citing prohibited chemicals and excessive levels of oxytetracycline allegedly found in grouper imports since December last year.
The council yesterday said it would offer grouper farmers cash subsidies to promote their products in other Asian countries.
Photo: CNA
They would receive NT$40 per kilogram of grouper transported by ship and NT$75 per kilogram transported by plane, it said.
Exports to other places — including the US, Canada, the EU, New Zealand, Australia and the Middle East — would receive subsidies of NT$50 per kilogram transported by ship and NT$75 per kilogram transported by plane, the council added.
It also budgeted NT$40 million to initiate overseas promotion of Taiwanese grouper, the COA said.
The Fisheries Agency is setting aside NT$82.6 million to fund interest-free loans running up to one year, and would offer assistance and training for those interested in raising grouper, agency Deputy Director-General Lin Kuo-ping (林國平) said.
The program would run until May next year, Lin said.
The agency said it is also allotting NT$377 million for subsidies of NT$40 per kilogram of grouper that has been scaled, gilled and gutted, NT$40 per kilogram of grouper steaks or filets, and other expenditures for fish farmers working with online platforms, supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants.
COA Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) wrote on Facebook that Beijing wrongfully accused three farmers of producing allegedly tainted fish found on two ships.
The fish on those ships came from 11 separate farms, Chen said, adding that tests conducted there were negative for tetracycline, malachite green and crystal violet.
“This scientifically demonstrates that Taiwanese groupers are safe,” Chen said.
Chen said the council would provide the findings to its Chinese counterpart, urging it to provide proof of its claims.
China should abide by international law and uphold the global trade order, he said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said China was “obstructing Taiwan’s freedom of trade.”
The government would stand with Taiwanese fish farmers, and continue to uphold and protect their rights, she said during a visit to fish processing plants and farms in Kaohsiung.
Additional reporting by Huang Hsu-lei
LOYALTY: The 10 active and retired soldiers betrayed the nation and its people by leaking and passing on military secrets to China, the High Prosecutors’ Office said Ten former and current military officers were yesterday indicted on charges of spying for China, including two who allegedly filmed themselves pledging loyalty to Beijing. The High Prosecutors’ Office requested life imprisonment for the suspects in light of the severity of the crime. The 10 active-duty and retired officers included members of the 601st Brigade of the Aviation Special Forces comprising attack helicopter squadrons and elite combat units in charge of defending northern Taiwan, including Taipei. The other suspects came from Huadong Defense Command, in charge of defending the eastern coast; Kinmen Defense Command, in charge of defending Kinmen and Matsu; and one
NO FREE LUNCH: Taiwanese joining the trips to China met TAO and United Front Work officials who urged them to vote for candidates who support closer ties with Beijing The Ciaotou Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung yesterday released two suspects on bail who have been accused of recruiting Taiwanese to join tours to China funded by Beijing and in which they were urged to vote for pan-blue candidates in January’s presidential and legislative elections. The pan-blue camp generally refers to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the People First Party, the New Party and the Young China Party, which support closer relations with China. Prosecutors said that a man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), and a woman, surnamed Yeh (葉), who are members of the China Pan-Blue Association, recruited Taiwanese tourists to join tours arranged
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday slammed a proposal by New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, to permit a “significant number” of Chinese students to study and work in Taiwan, saying it would be detrimental to young Taiwanese. At an event on Monday hosted by nine major industrial and business groups, Hou said that if elected, he would reinitiate cross-strait dialogue on the premise that Taiwan’s dignity would not be compromised and that the talks would be held in good faith. The talks would include lifting a ban on Chinese tour groups and
PEACE AND STABILITY: ‘Taiwan can be of tremendous value’ in building resilient supply chains, President Tsai Ing-wen said, as she encouraged closer ties with foreign businesses A Chinese invasion of Taiwan is unlikely for the time being due to the internal challenges and international pressure that China is facing, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the New York Times in an interview shown on Wednesday. “My thought is that perhaps this is not a time for them [China] to consider a major invasion of Taiwan,” Tsai said in a prerecorded interview for the DealBook Summit held by the newspaper on Wednesday. Beijing’s leadership is presently “overwhelmed by its internal challenges” on economic, financial and political grounds, while the international community “has made it loud and clear that war is
RSS