Beijing reportedly plans to lift an import ban on Taiwanese atemoya later this month, following visits to China by current and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials, a person with knowledge of the matter said last week.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) concluded a visit to China early this month, while KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) in February traveled there in part to negotiate with Beijing on behalf of Taiwanese businesses affected by the ban.
The Chinese government has over the past two years suspended the importation of hundreds of Taiwanese products, citing the presence of pests and improper applications.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
Atemoya, a hybrid of custard apple and cherimoya, was among the first products banned in 2021, along with pineapples and wax apples, which at the time constituted Taiwan’s top three fruit exports to China.
The moves have been widely interpreted as politically motivated and Taiwan’s representative to the WTO has filed multiple complaints seeking mediation.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a KMT official said that Beijing is planning to lift the atemoya ban later this month at the earliest.
The “united front” strategy is attractive to Beijing, as it only needs to “inject the poison, then provide the antidote,” the official said on Monday last week.
It can then funnel the positive publicity toward the KMT to boost its chances in next year’s presidential election, they added.
After Hsia met with Chinese Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning (王滬寧) and Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in February, the office said it was “willing to work with the relevant parties in Taiwan to help restore imports of Taiwanese agricultural and fishery products.”
Government representatives from Taitung County — a major atemoya growing region — also visited China late last month to seek the resumption of imports.
According to a March 28 report by Hsia to KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) on the county delegation, the manager of the Taiwan branch of China Inspection Co and two experts were on March 30 to inspect atemoya orchards, packaging and transportation in the county.
If their findings meet the standards of the Chinese General Administration of Customs, the ban on atemoya imports would be lifted, likely in the second half of this month, Hsia reportedly said.
Another anonymous official last week said that Chu would wait until Beijing lifts the ban to announce the news in tandem with the Taitung County Government.
The KMT hopes to use the development as a model to negotiate the lifting of similar bans and boost its credentials as a party capable of solving problems facing farmers and fishers, they said.
Chu reportedly asked Hsia not to visit China for a while after his delegation returned to Taiwan, on concern that more visits might affect the party’s chances in next year’s election, the person said, adding that exchanges were to be conducted solely through the KMT’s Mainland Affairs Department.
However, seeking to consolidate his position as the KMT’s main cross-strait negotiator, Hsia has repeatedly asked the department to visit China on behalf of Taiwanese businesses, although Chu has yet to agree, the person said.
Hsia believes that the KMT should take advantage of China’s willingness to engage in cross-strait exchanges and Taiwanese’s desire for peace to regain control of cross-strait relations, the person said.
Beijing would undoubtedly interfere in next year’s election on behalf of the KMT, particularly through similar “cost-free” tactics, the person said.
However, it was China that concocted the “pest” problem in the first place, only to later play the role of the benefactor, they added.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS