President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday promoted pineapples along with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) local government heads from southern Taiwan.
China on Friday last week announced that from Monday it would suspend imports of Taiwanese pineapples, citing concerns about harmful organisms found on the fruits. The import ban accounts for nearly 10 percent of Taiwan’s annual pineapple production, but the amount was offset after the public and private sectors joined forces to purchase the fruit.
The party has set up a “pineapple national team,” Tsai, who is the DPP chairperson, told a news conference at the party’s headquarters in Taipei.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
She urged Taiwanese to consume fresh pineapples and pineapple-based products.
Tsai was joined by the heads of local government from Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well Chiayi and Pingtung counties, which are the nation’s main pineapple production regions.
DPP officials at the event presented fresh pineapples and a variety of finished products, including pineapple cakes, pineapple jam, pineapple toast, as well as vinegar, wine, sauce, and cosmetics and health food products made from the fruit.
Tsai thanked Taiwanese for helping pineapple farmers over the past few days, saying: “Taiwan will stand together in unity, as people face unreasonable actions in international trade.”
“A number of foreign embassies and representative offices have expressed their support for Taiwanese pineapples, so we wish to thank all our international friends for their support, as well our citizens for uniting to help the nation’s pineapple growers,” Tsai said.
The pineapple harvest gets under way later this month and continues for several months, she said, adding that now is the time to place orders.
People could buy additional pineapples during the harvest season to help pineapple farmers overcome the challenge, she added.
“A crisis also creates new opportunities. When facing challenges, Taiwan never gets knocked down. We take them on and grow stronger,” she said. “Taiwanese came together to support hardworking farmers and their high-quality products. The international community will also stand with Taiwan.”
SUPPORT BASES
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that “the DPP has important support bases in southern Taiwan, which overlaps with pineapple production areas, so it is natural for DPP supporters to eat pineapples, and when China lashes out against our pineapples, we have to join forces.”
Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said: “Pingtung is the locomotive driving Taiwan’s pineapple production and is to enter harvest season next week. When China banned Taiwan pineapple imports on Friday, we immediately prepared containers of pineapples to ship to Japan.”
Pingtung also produces a variety of processed pineapple products, Pan said, urging people to buy pineapples at intervals over the coming months to ensure they have the freshest, top-quality pineapples.
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
FATE UNKNOWN: The owner of the dog could face a fine of up to NT$150,000 and the animal could be euthanized if he cannot show that he can effectively supervise it A pit bull terrier has been confiscated by authorities after it yesterday morning bit a motorcyclist in Taipei, following footage of the same dog in a similar attack going viral online earlier this month. When the owner, surnamed Hsu (徐), stopped at a red light on Daan District’s (大安) Wolong Street at 8am, the dog, named “Lucky,” allegedly rolled down the automatic window of the pickup truck they were riding in, leapt out of the rear passenger window and attacked a motorcyclist behind them, Taipei’s Daan District Police Precinct said. The dog clamped down on the man’s leg and only let go
RSS