China initiates trade barrier investigation against Taiwan

Beijing [China], October 12 (ANI): China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Saturday that it may take additional measures against Taiwan following an investigation revealing Taiwan’s trade-restrictive measures against the nation violate fair trade practices, according to a report by Xinhua.

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesperson made the remarks following the trade probe into Taiwan’s restrictive measures, which concluded in December last year.

The spokesperson asserted that Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities failed to take concrete actions to lift trade restrictions against the Chinese mainland, despite the release of investigation results.

China’s MOC said that Taiwan’s restrictions on importing more than 2,000 Chinese products are indeed trade barriers. The ministry further said that this determination was made in December 2023, following a thorough investigation. It added that the MOC called for the removal of these restrictions, but so far, Taipei has not made any effort to do so.

An investigation was launched, following concerns from Chinese chambers of commerce. The investigation probed whether Taiwan’s import bans on 2,455 Chinese products (as of April) breach fair trade practices.

Notably, Taiwan had imposed bans on several products from China, and the range of restricted imports continued to expand in recent years, according to the investigation results. By the end of November 2023, the imports of 2,509 items of products from China were prohibited.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) protested China’s “economic oppression” on Saturday, responding to Beijing’s threat of countermeasures over Taiwan’s alleged trade barriers.

In a statement, the MAC, the top government agency in Taiwan that supervises exchanges across Taiwan Strait, expressed regret over any such measures but said the government will continue its efforts to minimise any adverse effects they may cause, according to a report by Focus Taiwan.