China’s surprise ban on pineapple imports from Taiwan five months ago was widely viewed as an attempt to undermine President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) standing, but trade data show that the move has not produced the desired effect.
Council of Agriculture data show that growers of the fruit in Taiwan have fared better since China blocked imports on March 1, as Japanese have stepped in.
Shipments to Japan surged more than eightfold to 16,556 tonnes in the four months through June from a year earlier. A domestic campaign also helped.
The helping hand from Japan has come as a pleasant surprise for Taiwan’s growers, who were bracing for a plunge in prices following the move by China.
“The bleeding was stopped before it even began,” council official Chen Li-i (陳立儀) said.
Japan has now replaced China as the major overseas destination for Taiwan’s pineapples.
Pineapples are an important source of income for farmers in central and southern Taiwan. About 11 percent of the tropical fruit harvested in Taiwan are sold overseas.
“Export orders are looking unexpectedly good,” Harvest Consultancy Co chief executive Chiao Chun (焦鈞) said. “This really was a crisis turned into an opportunity.”
Besides the help from Japan, an increase in domestic demand fueled by a “save the farmers” campaign on social media rallied local shoppers in support of growers.
As a result, domestic prices of the fruit jumped 28 percent to an average of NT$22.1 per kilogram in the March-to-June period, a three-year high.
“Higher prices driven by strong domestic demand led to more profit for farmers,” Chen said.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
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