The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday accused opposition politicians of colluding with China to have 63 Taiwanese food products removed from a ban that China placed on Taiwanese food imports last month.
Chinese customs on Dec. 9 imposed the ban on thousands of items, claiming that suppliers did not comply with new registration requirements.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on Sunday said the ban on a limited number of products was lifted on Saturday.
The Chinese General Administration of Customs provided customs registration codes for 63 items, including Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc products, TAO said.
The announcement came soon after independent Kinmen County Commissioner Chen Fu-hai (陳福海) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yu-chen (陳玉珍), among other lawmakers, met with TAO Director Sung Tao (宋濤) on Sunday.
DPP caucus director Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said that China’s ban and sudden reversal on some items were perplexing, as the reasons for the moves were vague.
“They are politicizing the matter to favor certain politicians and for propaganda purposes,” Cheng said. “It is regrettable that we have politicians in Taiwan colluding with China.”
“This shows the many uncertainties Taiwanese companies face when making investments and establishing distribution in China, and for those intending to do business and sell products there,” he added.
China unfairly demanded that Taiwanese exporters list full ingredients of their products in writing, while other countries could do so online, Cheng said, adding that the treatment was arbitrary and lacked goodwill to Taiwan.
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) yesterday said that the import ban contravened international trade practices, and the lifting of the ban on some items was politically motivated.
“Everyone here can see clearly that they are engaged with Beijing for political purposes,” Chiu said.
KMT Legislator William Tseng Ming-chung (曾銘宗) said that exchanges across the Taiwan Strait are necessary to build mutual trust, and he hopes Beijing extends an olive branch to Taipei to improve cross-strait relations.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan
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