Based on the projected benefits generated by tariff exemptions on Taiwanese fruit offered by China, a senior agriculture administration official said yesterday that this offer did little to help Taiwanese fruit farmers.
According to the Council of Agriculture's (COA) statistics, Taiwan might be able to export an extra 10 tonnes of fruit a month to China, council chairman Lee Ching-lung (李金龍) said.
"This extra amount, accounting for only 0.001 percent of the country's total fruit exports of 8,000 tonnes per month, does not benefit our farmers at all," Lee said.
Lee said that the zero-tariff measure that resulted in a 10 to 15 percent reduction in the market retail prices of fruit only benefits Chinese consumers.
Lee made the remarks while attending a forum held by the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei to discuss the problems surrounding Taiwanese fruit exports to China.
China exempted import tariffs on 15 kinds of fruit from Taiwan as of Aug. 1. According to the COA, about 32 tonnes of 12 different varieties of Taiwanese fruit were exported to China tax-free during the first 10 days of this month.
It could be estimated from these statistics that China would import about 96 tonnes of fruit from Taiwan in a month, Lee said.
"In the past, we normally exported about 86 tonnes of fruit to China. Now, with the help of the zero-tariff measure, we only get an extra 10 tonnes," he said.
Lee again called on the Chinese government to start bilateral talks with Taiwan over the problems concerning the fruit trade.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
RSS