Fruit and seafood import from Taiwan faces China's wrath
The trip by Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency and the highest-profile elected US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, has ignited a diplomatic firestorm. Since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, Beijing has increased pressure on Taiwan because she sees the island as a de facto independent country.
FollowIn response to a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, China implemented restrictions on the import of fruit and seafood from Taiwan on Wednesday while also stopping the shipping of sand to the island.
The trip by Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency and the highest-profile elected US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, has ignited a diplomatic firestorm. She arrived in Taiwan late on Tuesday in response to China's increasingly stern warnings, which assert that the island would someday be seized by force if necessary.
Because of the claimed "repeated" discovery of excessive pesticide residue and positive coronavirus tests on shipments, China's Customs Administration announced Wednesday that it would halt the importation of select citrus fruits and fish from Taiwan.
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Without giving any other information, the Commerce Ministry said in a separate announcement that it will likewise "halt the shipment of natural sand to Taiwan" as of Wednesday. Taiwan's exports have been targeted by Beijing before.
In March 2021, China forbade the import of pineapples from the island, alleging the discovery of pests in a move that was largely regarded as politically motivated. Since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, Beijing has increased pressure on Taiwan because she sees the island as a de facto independent country that is not a part of "one China."
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Chinese officials also revealed plans for live-fire military exercises to encircle Taiwan, which Taipei's defence ministry claimed endangered the island's important ports and metropolitan centres. The 23 million residents of Taiwan have long faced the danger of invasion, but it has grown more serious under the present administration of President Xi Jinping, China's most outspoken leader in a generation.
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