The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday, for the first time, explicitly branded China’s trade barrier investigation of Taiwan as a move intended to interfere with January’s presidential election.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on April 12 announced that it was launching a probe into trade barriers imposed by Taiwan on 2,455 Chinese agricultural products, textiles, coal, minerals, metals, plastics, rubber, chemicals and construction materials.
The announcement was made on the day that Vice President William Lai (賴清德) was nominated by the Democratic Progressive Party as its presidential candidate.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
A week prior to the announcement, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) met US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California after traveling to Guatemala and Belize.
The ministry said that it planned to complete the investigation by Oct. 12, but it could be extended to Jan. 12 next year.
That is the day before Taiwan’s election.
The restrictions on Chinese goods were implemented when Taiwan joined the WTO, and China had voiced no objection over the years, the MAC said.
The sudden launch of the investigation and its time line is clearly politically motivated, the MAC said, adding that it is an obvious attempt to interfere with Taiwan’s election using economic coercion.
Hsu Chia-hao (許家豪), an assistant professor at National Sun Yat-sen University’s Si Wan College, yesterday said that the timing did show Beijing’s determination to influence Taiwan’s elections using economic coercion.
The result of the investigation could be published during the campaign period to sway the election, or it could be used afterward depending on the outcome of the vote, Hsu said.
If the candidate China supports fails to win the election, the investigation could be used by Beijing as “punishment,” he said.
Beijing has tried to win people’s hearts by offering economic and trade benefits since former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was in power, a strategy that proved unsuccessful during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Hsu said.
China is expected to continue its politically motivated economic coercion against Taiwan, but would focus more on military and diplomatic pressure, he said.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Thursday announced that the number of items under investigation had been adjusted to 2,509.
General Chamber of Commerce chairman Paul Hsu (許舒博) yesterday said that cross-strait tensions could lead to anything, as hostile US-China relations are causing all kinds of problems.
Taiwan and China are important trading partners, he said, adding the two sides should show mutual goodwill and improve relations by communicating more.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS