Sat, Dec 23, 2023 page1

• Ministry urges China to be consistent

  CARROT AND STICK: Beijing rewards those who accept the so-called ‘1992 consensus’ and its ‘one China’ principle with economic incentives, a civil association member said

  • By Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter
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  The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday urged China to set standards and avoid politically motivated moves after Beijing lifted its ban on Taiwanese grouper imports for some fish farmers.

  China in June last year banned Taiwanese groupers for allegedly containing banned chemicals and excessive levels of oxytetracycline.

  The Chinese General Administration of Customs yesterday said that it had determined to lift the ban after “a comprehensive evaluation of Taiwan’s rectification measures.”

  

  Farmers catch grouper in an undated photograph.

  Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times

  Only “qualified and registered fish farms” are allowed to export groupers to China, it said.

  Seven farms have completed the registration and could start exporting immediately, a list published on the agency’s Web site showed.

  China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) in a press release said that Taiwanese grouper farmers had expressed willingness to take effective measures to ensure the safety of their exports.

  Zhu in particular named Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Policy Committee vice chair Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉), who also heads an agricultural trade organization, and Huang Yi-cheng (黃一成), head of the Taiwan Cross-Strait Agricultural and Fishery Exchange Development Investment Association, saying that the two “actively guided fish farmers to make corrective measures and led them to visit China.”

  By adhering to the so-called “1992 consensus” and opposing Taiwanese independence, issues between the two sides of the Strait could easily be resolved, she said.

  The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.

  In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said that China had ignored seven attempts to engage in a science-based dialogue since the ban was imposed.

  Beijing acknowledged Taiwan’s improvement in the production and management of groupers, but unilaterally opened its market to only seven farms, which was not in line with international practice, the ministry said.

  Taiwan was neither consulted during the process nor informed of the quarantine standard, it said, adding that there is a lack of consistent rules for Taiwanese farmers to follow.

  Beijing bypassing the government to reach an agreement with the KMT is a “blatant act of interference” in the nation’s presidential election next month, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research assistant researcher Wang Kuo-chen (王國臣) said.

  Banning grouper imports due to residues of prohibited chemicals while lifting the ban due to the “1992 consensus” did not make sense, he said.

  Association of Chinese Elite Leadership secretary-general Wang Chih-sheng (王智盛) said that Beijing is taking sophisticated measures to interfere with Taiwan’s elections.

  China is providing economic incentives to those who accept the “1992 consensus” and its “one China” principle while threatening those who do not, he said.

  Prior to lifting the ban, Beijing on Thursday announced that it is to suspend tariff relief provided under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), on imports of 12 Taiwanese petrochemical products from Jan. 1.

  The move was Beijing’s intimidation against Taiwanese voters, to indicate that if the Democratic Progressive Party wins the election, the economy would collapse, Wang Chih-sheng said.

  China is dividing Taiwanese into groups and handing out incentives or punishments based on political reasons to sway voters, said Eric Chiou (邱奕宏), associate professor of the Center for Human Sciences at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.

  The government should conduct a comprehensive risk assessment on doing business with China and work with other countries to establish an early warning mechanism for industries, he said.

  The timing of Beijing’s announcement is “clearly intended to suppress the freedom of choice of Taiwanese and use economic coercion to steer Taiwan’s democratic vote in a direction that suits China,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

  Additional reporting by Yang Yuan-ting
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