China’s ban on Taiwanese pineapples was “unsurprising,” and Taiwan should have years ago altered its produce export strategies and target customers, experts said.
China on Friday abruptly suspended imports of pineapples from Taiwan, saying that it had on multiple occasions discovered “harmful biological entities” on the fruit.
Calling it an “unfriendly” move, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said that 99.79 percent of the pineapples sent to China since last year have met China’s import standards.
Photo: Ben Blanchard, Reuters
Chiao Chun (焦鈞), the author of Fruits and Politics — A Recollection of Cross-strait Agricultural Interaction Over the Past Decade (水果政治學：兩岸農業交流十年回顧與展望), said that China’s announcement is clearly targeting Taiwan, as the Taiwanese pineapple season is from mid-February to June every year.
There might have been other factors, in addition to the deterioration of cross-strait relations since 2016, that led China to make such a decision, he added.
Chiao said that China is no doubt hoping to use produce exports as a bargaining chip should the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) give in to pressure from farmers.
China is a volatile, high-risk market, as the Chinese government tries to foster dependence on its market, and then uses this reliance to obtain seeds and other technology with the goal of eventually taking over a market segment, especially in produce, Chiao said, adding that this has been a known ploy used for years.
The atemoya, a hybrid of sugar apple and cherimoya, is likely the Chinese government’s next target, Chiao said.
National Taiwan University Department of Agricultural Economics professor Hsu Shih-hsun (徐世勳) said the best response is to expand the export of Taiwan’s agricultural produce to other countries.
Last year, Taiwan exported 41,661 tonnes of pineapples to China, worth NT$1.49 billion (US$52.64 million) and accounting for 91 percent of Taiwan’s total pineapple exports, government data showed.
Japan was the second-biggest importer, with 2,160 tonnes, while Hong Kong and Singapore imported 1,186 and 421 tonnes respectively, data showed.
Taiwan could improve its capability to process agricultural products, which would extend the produce’s shelf life, added value and gross profit margin, Hsu said, adding that this would mitigate a reliance on refrigeration for fresh produce.
However, the COA would first need to be in charge of produce production and processing, as the latter is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, he said.
National Feng Chia University Department of International Business professor Yang Min-hsien (楊明憲) said that China should not target Taiwanese farmers if it wished to extend an olive branch to Taiwan.
Additional reporting by CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS