The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday, for the first time, explicitly branded China’s trade barrier investigation of Taiwan as a move intended to interfere with January’s presidential election.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on April 12 announced that it was launching a probe into trade barriers imposed by Taiwan on 2,455 Chinese agricultural products, textiles, coal, minerals, metals, plastics, rubber, chemicals and construction materials.
The announcement was made on the day that Vice President William Lai (賴清德) was nominated by the Democratic Progressive Party as its presidential candidate.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
A week prior to the announcement, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) met US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California after traveling to Guatemala and Belize.
The ministry said that it planned to complete the investigation by Oct. 12, but it could be extended to Jan. 12 next year.
That is the day before Taiwan’s election.
The restrictions on Chinese goods were implemented when Taiwan joined the WTO, and China had voiced no objection over the years, the MAC said.
The sudden launch of the investigation and its time line is clearly politically motivated, the MAC said, adding that it is an obvious attempt to interfere with Taiwan’s election using economic coercion.
Hsu Chia-hao (許家豪), an assistant professor at National Sun Yat-sen University’s Si Wan College, yesterday said that the timing did show Beijing’s determination to influence Taiwan’s elections using economic coercion.
The result of the investigation could be published during the campaign period to sway the election, or it could be used afterward depending on the outcome of the vote, Hsu said.
If the candidate China supports fails to win the election, the investigation could be used by Beijing as “punishment,” he said.
Beijing has tried to win people’s hearts by offering economic and trade benefits since former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was in power, a strategy that proved unsuccessful during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Hsu said.
China is expected to continue its politically motivated economic coercion against Taiwan, but would focus more on military and diplomatic pressure, he said.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Thursday announced that the number of items under investigation had been adjusted to 2,509.
General Chamber of Commerce chairman Paul Hsu (許舒博) yesterday said that cross-strait tensions could lead to anything, as hostile US-China relations are causing all kinds of problems.
Taiwan and China are important trading partners, he said, adding the two sides should show mutual goodwill and improve relations by communicating more.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
Taiwan’s first African swine fever (ASF) case has been confirmed and would soon be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Research Institute yesterday completed the analysis of samples collected on Tuesday from dead pigs at a hog farm in Taichung and found they were ASF-positive. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency Animal Quarantine Division chief Lin Nien-nung (林念農) said the result would be reported to the WOAH and Taiwan’s major trade partners would also be notified, adding that pork exports would be suspended. As of Friday, all samples
RSS