The government will continue to diversify its export markets to prevent China from undermining its agricultural and fisheries industries, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said yesterday.
Just hours after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on a visit, the Chinese government announced that it would temporarily suspend imports of citrus fruits and two types of fish from Taiwan, as well as exports of natural sand.
China’s General Administration of Customs has suspended imports of refrigerated largehead hairtail and frozen Japanese horse mackerel from Taiwan due to repeated discovery of the COVID-19 virus on packaging materials, Chinese media reports said yesterday.
Photo: CNA
The customs bureau has also suspended imports of citrus fruit from Taiwan due to the presence of citrus mealybug and excess residues of two types of pesticides, the reports said.
Prior to Pelosi’s arrival, the bureau on Monday night imposed temporary import bans on products from more than 100 Taiwanese food manufacturers, including well-known brands such as I-Mei Foods Co, Wei Chuan Foods Corp and Kuai Kuai Co.
Chen told a news conference in Taipei that the bans target products originating from all parts of Taiwan and is successful in its intent of affecting Taiwanese exports, but the Council of Agriculture is looking at measures to stabilize prices.
Photo: Taipei Times
“We will definitely take care of our fishers and farmers,” he added.
The council estimates that more than 8,000 tonnes of citruses, 5,500 tonnes of largehead hairtails and 1,000 tonnes of Japanese horse mackerel would be affected, he said.
Aside from helping fishers and farmers seek new markets, the council would also provide subsidies, he added.
Taiwan is not ruling out seeking arbitration from the WTO over China’s banning of Taiwanese citruses, which are listed as part of accepted agricultural products under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, he said
Starting on Monday next week, any purchases from platforms such as the Farmers’ Association of more than NT$600 would receive a NT$200 agritourism voucher, Chen said, adding that the council is planning to hand out 300,000 vouchers.
The council has always rebutted Chinese allegations of bugs or excessive residues of certain chemicals by providing scientific-based evidence, he said, adding that it would continue to do so.
Separately, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said all government agencies should be prepared for the possibility of China arbitrarily banning more Taiwanese products.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that Chinese military threats and bans on Taiwanese agricultural and fishery products would harm cross-strait peace and affect regional stability.
He said that he hoped farmers’ and fishers’ livelihoods would not be affected.
Chu called for continued dialogue and not mutual animosity, adding that this is a principle that the KMT upholds.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang, Lin Liang-sheng and CNA
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS