China places informal ban on Taiwanese food exporters in August 2022
On 03 August 2022, the General Administration of Customs of the PRC announced a suspension to imports of citrus fruits, frozen white hairtail, and frozen bamboo pod fish from Taiwan because Chinese customs had repeatedly detected quarantine pests – planococcus minor and residues of fenthion and dimethoate – as well as traces of the Covid-19 virus from multiple shipments of food products.
China had never officially admitted that such import restrictions were driven by political motives. However, on August 3, 2022, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC was asked whether China intended to punish Taiwan by suspending imports of certain food and products from Taiwan. She did not respond to the question directly but stated that the U.S. and pro-independence forces in Taiwan should pay for their mistakes.
Furthermore, a quasi-official Chinese media source, CCTV, pointed out that this measure was made in response to the 2022 visit made to Taiwan by then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
More information about the measures were detailed in an account by Bloomberg Beijing:
“China barred shipments from more than 100 Taiwanese food exporters in an apparent effort to impose economic pressure on a key industry ahead of an expected visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
China’s General Administration of Customs imposed the ban Monday (Aug 1), according to local outlet United Daily News, which said the affected goods included seafood, tea and honey.”
See also the information contained in the related incident MANGOES [TAIWAN – CHINA]
References:
CCTV. 2022. ‘Mainland China’s suspension of imports of more than one hundred Taiwanese food gave rise to public concerns in Taiwan’ [大陆暂停输入百余项台湾食品引发岛内居民担忧]. August 3. Available at: https://news.cctv.com/2022/08/03/ARTIw2u8ZEaxToNn28tQDBPh220803.shtml?spm=C94212.P4YnMod9m2uD.ENPMkWvfnaiV.5
General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China. 2022. ‘Notice on the suspension of imports of citrus fruits, frozen white hairtail and frozen bamboo pod fish from Taiwan’ [关于暂停台湾地区柑橘类水果和冰鲜白带鱼、冻竹荚鱼输入大陆的通知]. August 3. Available at: http://nanning.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/zfxxgk/zfxxgkml34/4494964/index.html.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. 2022. ‘Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, held a regular press conference on 03 August 2022’ [2022年8月3日外交部发言人华春莹主持例行记者会]. August 3. Available at: https://www.mfa.gov.cn/fyrbt_673021/202208/t20220803_10733353.shtml.