Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday accused China of “robbery and a complete disregard for the rule of law,” saying that Beijing began publicly promoting a patented pineapple cultivar stolen from Taiwan.
Chinese media said the developer of the fruit was the Chiayi branch of the council’s Agricultural Research Institute in the “Chinese region of Taiwan,” Chen told the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
In March 2021, Beijing banned imports of golden diamond pineapples from Taiwan under false pretenses and launched a massive promotion campaign for the fruit, which it was growing illegally in Guangdong Province, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Agricultural Research Institute
The Tainung No. 23 “mango pineapple” China is producing without authorization was a centerpiece of the council’s long-term fruit export plans, Chen said, adding that the patents for the cultivar were internationally recognized.
The theft means that the untold amount of money and years of agricultural research spent on creating the pineapple might not produce returns, he said.
Taiwan and China used to have a cross-strait plant patent work group, which the two countries founded together in 2010, Chen said.
In 2016, China abruptly ceased all communications, and did not respond to calls for cooperation, despite the council’s attempts to establish contact via non-governmental channels, he said.
The council has given four companies and three farming households authorization to grow the mango-flavored pineapple, with 25 hectares under cultivation this year, he said.
Citing Chinese reports, Chen said 66.7 hectares are being used to farm the cultivar in Hainan Province.
Fang Yi-tan (方怡丹), who heads the Chiayi branch of the Agricultural Research Institute, said that access to the cultivar was supposed to be heavily restricted, and an investigation into how China gained access to it is being conducted.
Taiwan could ask Japan to ban imports of the cultivar from China due to patent protections, she said.
Japan is the largest export market for Taiwanese pineapples and patent protections ensure that the market grows, Agriculture and Food Agency Director-General Hu Jong-i (胡忠一) said, adding that the council aims to export 20,000 tonnes of the fruit.
Local farmers are expected to grow about 383,000 tonnes of pineapples this year, he added.
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