China Bans Taiwanese Food Exports Amid Heightened Cross-Strait Tensions

Communist China is an ‘undisciplined trade partner’: expert

Crates of pineapples are being sorted at a warehouse in Pingtung county, Taiwan, on March 16, 2021. - A Chinese ban on pineapple imports from Taiwan has sparked a flood of patriotic buying of the fruit and forced restaurants to come up with inventive new menu choices. Still, it has also left many questioning Taipei’s overwhelming economic reliance on its giant neighbor. Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images

News Analysis

Amid elevated cross-strait tensions, Beijing once again suspended imports of several food and beverage products from Taiwan, citing “incomplete registration information.” Experts believe it is a political move aimed at suppressing Taiwan and inciting nationalism at a time of domestic crisis.