Taiwan threatened to require China to the planet Trade Organization on Sunday after Beijing said it might suspend sweetsop and wax apple imports from the island on pest concerns, within the latest spat between the 2 over fruit.
Relations between Taipei and Beijing, which claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, are at their lowest in decades, as China increases political and military pressure to urge the island to simply accept its sovereignty.
China’s customs administration said it had repeatedly detected pests called “Planococcus minor” in sugar apples, also referred to as sweetsops, and wax apples from Taiwan. It asked its Guangdong branch and every one directly affiliated offices to prevent customs clearance of these products from Monday.
Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung said China had behaved unilaterally without providing scientific evidence, and criticised the announcement for coming during the normal Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated by Taiwan and China.
“We cannot accept this,” Chen told reporters in Taipei about the choice , which he said his office had only received at 9 a.m. (0100GMT) on Sunday.
Taiwan has told China it’ll take the country to the WTO under the body’s dispute resolution mechanism if Beijing doesn’t answer Taipei’s request to resolve the difficulty under their existing bilateral framework before Sept. 30, he added.
The government also will spend T$100 million ($3.60 million) to assist affected farmers, boosting not only domestic sales but exports to other markets like Singapore and Malaysia, Chen said.
Sugar apples and wax apples are Taiwan specialities, though most are consumed domestically. The island is additionally famous for its mangoes.
This is the second time this year China has stopped fruit imports from Taiwan.
In February, China banned imports of pineapples from Taiwan, citing “harmful creatures” that would accompany the fruit. Taiwan had said there was nothing wrong with the pineapples and accused Beijing of playing politics.
