BEIJING – China on Dec 15 pressured Taiwan with a trade barrier probe and warplanes in the Taiwan Strait, a month before the island holds key elections, as Taipei called on Beijing to stop its “political operations”.
The Jan 13, 2024, presidential and parliamentary elections are taking place as China, which views the island as its territory, has sought to force Taiwan to accept its sovereignty claims.
Taiwan’s government and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have repeatedly said China is trying to interfere in the vote, whether by military means or co-opting Taiwanese politicians, to ensure an outcome favourable to Beijing.
China’s Commerce Ministry said it had determined that Taiwan had put up trade barriers in contravention of both World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and a trade deal that China signed in 2010 with Taiwan. These barriers have had a “negative impact” on Chinese companies, it added.
The ministry stopped short of announcing any countermeasures. It was also unclear whether the investigation is over.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, in a separate statement, said evidence from the probe is clear and its conclusions are objective and fair.
“We support the relevant authorities to study and take corresponding measures in accordance with regulations based on the final findings of the investigation on trade barriers to Taiwan,” it said.
Separately, Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said on the morning of Dec 15 that it had detected 10 Chinese military aircraft – including J-16 fighters and H-6 bombers – operating around the island, carrying out “joint combat readiness patrols” with Chinese warships, part of what Taiwan calls routine harassment.
China in October said it was extending its trade barrier investigation to Jan 12, 2024, the eve of Taiwan’s elections. Taiwan denounced that at the time as election interference.
Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations, responding to the Chinese announcement of the investigation’s conclusions, called them one-sided, inconsistent with the facts and in violation of WTO mechanisms and norms.
“We will never accept it and call on China to stop their political operations immediately,” it said in a statement.
Both are WTO members and can resolve issues there, it added.
“If China is sincere, our attitude is that we can talk at any time. Both sides are World Trade Organisation members, and any trade issues will be dealt with in accordance with WTO mechanisms,” said Mr James Hsiao, spokesman for Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations.
Taiwan’s Economy Ministry pointed to Chinese barriers to Taiwanese exports like banning “without warning many times” various aquatic and food products.
The government is working with Taiwanese companies to mitigate the “policy risks” associated with China, including diversifying export markets, the ministry added.
Vice-President Lai Ching-te of the DPP is the front runner to be Taiwan’s next president, according to polls. China detests him, believing him to be a separatist, and has rebuffed his repeated offers of talks.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Dec 13 said the island’s elections were “purely an internal Chinese matter” and that the DPP was trying to call any kind of interactions between the two sides of the strait election interference.
Taiwan’s government rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying that only the island’s people can decide their future. REUTERS
