Taiwan could take China to World Trade Organization. Taiwan effectively bans Taiwanese imports of Taiwanese foodstuffs, Premier Su Tseng Chang said Saturday, as Beijing charged Taipei with “political manipulation”.
Taiwan claims China as its territory. Taiwan has been complaining for two years about Chinese import bans on various aquatic and agricultural goods. This includes pineapples, grouper fish and other tropical fruits.
China claims that the latest bans include more fishery products including squid and some beers, liquors, and are due to Taiwanese businesses not correctly completing required paperwork.
Su stated that China used administrative tools to interfere in normal trade, which was not consistent with WTO norms.
He said that the government would do everything possible to reach out to relevant Chinese agencies on this issue.
We will follow all channels to lodge a complaint if there’s any violation of the WTO norms.
Both Taiwan and China belong to the WTO.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office stated late Friday that the issue was administrative in the sense that affected businesses were not registered properly and was therefore a normal food safety supervision step.
The government expressed hope that Taiwanese businesses would provide information to meet the requirements of the government as quickly as possible.
“At the exact same time, we’re telling all relevant departments to the island immediately to stop political manipulations and to not do any stupid thing that might harm companies on the Island.”
Agriculture is not a major part of Taiwan’s semiconductor-oriented economy but the farming and fishing community is largely based in parts of the island that traditionally support the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, especially in southern Taiwan.
