Amid elevated cross-strait tensions, Beijing once again suspended imports of several food and beverage products from Taiwan, citing “incomplete registration information.” Experts believe it is a political move aimed at suppressing Taiwan and inciting nationalism at a time of domestic crisis.
Some Taiwanese companies reported that their registration with Chinese customs suddenly became “invalid” despite adhering to the customs rules and having previously secured a qualification code for import.
The seafood industry is the most impacted, according to Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA).
The Chinese customs cited several reasons for what might constitute “incomplete registration information”: the ingredient labeling does not meet the requirements; the production license certificate does not meet the requirements; the company’s application letter does not meet the requirements; the declaration of origin does not meet the requirements; the registration documents are not provided as required; the application product code is invalid or that it is wrong and does not belong to the registration of food enterprises.
Discrimination Against Taiwan
Wang Pi-sheng, Taiwan’s deputy minister of Health and Welfare, said at a press conference on Dec. 11 that the reasons provided by the Chinese customs might appear plausible on the surface, but there’s more to it.He said the problem is that the review standards are unclear, adding that the Chinese customs did not inform what content was allowed and what was not. And that the ministry couldn’t figure out the logic behind the suspensions upon comparing the passing and failed documents.
Wang added that the ministry repeatedly asked Chinese officials why those products did not meet the requirements, but they did not reply.
He pointed out that in November 2019, Beijing proposed new draft regulations for registering overseas food manufacturers. The rules stipulate that all countries, except Taiwan, can complete the registration form online.
In addition, all other nations have an application deadline until June 30, 2023, but Taiwan’s deadline is one year earlier.
‘Undisciplined Trade Partner’
Akio Yaita, a prominent Japanese-Chinese journalist and the Taipei bureau chief for the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun, said Beijing’s actions were not due to technical problems but blatant political suppression.“[These moves] demonstrate great political risks in doing business with China and show that it is not a reliable business partner. Making money in China is nothing more than ‘asking the devil for pocket money,’ [a business] may profit in the short term, but it may lose everything when ‘the devil changes his face.’”
Yaita encouraged Taiwan not to cave under pressure or make any compromise in the face of an “undisciplined trade partner.”
Regarding Beijing’s unilateral trade suspensions, Zhuge Mingyang, an independent journalist and China expert, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 12 that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “urgently needs an external factor to ease domestic and international pressures,” and provoking Taiwan is a way.
He said the regime is facing an “encirclement of pressure” as nations decouple from China and public grievances arise from within the country over its draconian pandemic control measures.
In NTD’s “Elite Forum” TV program on Dec. 11, Wei Jingsheng, a Chinese pro-democracy activist in the United States, said that the CCP always tries to incite nationalism among its people at a time of crisis.
“Who should the CCP incite nationalism against at this moment? Japan? America? India? None of them seem like an easy target. So the most ‘justifiable’ target is Taiwan,” Wei said.