Taiwan’s Cabinet has slammed Beijing for suspending imports of two kinds of fish from Taiwan, calling the move “unacceptable.” Spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng says if talks with China fail, Taiwan will not rule out taking its case to the World Trade Organization.
Beijing banned imports of Taiwanese grouper fish starting Monday. Customs authorities say that’s because they found banned chemicals in the fish.
Then, on Wednesday, China suspended imports of beltfish from one Taiwanese company because authorities detected COVID-19 on the packaging.
Taiwan’s Cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng says if Beijing finds a problem with a Taiwanese product, authorities should destroy the shipment or send it back, not ban the product completely. He says China’s piecemeal bans of Taiwanese goods violate international standards.
Lo says the government is looking into ways of selling more agricultural goods to other markets, boosting demand in Taiwan and subsidizing farmers for their losses.