China on Wednesday announced slew of economic sanctions against Taiwan as it continues to voice its anger at US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the Island nation calling the move “dangerous and stupid.”
Beijing on Wednesday banned import of citrus fruit and certain types of fish, further tightening from Taiwan.
It had on Monday, a day before Pelosi landed in Taiwan barred items from over 100 Taiwanese exporters citing outdated paperwork, adding to an existing ban on pineapples, wax and sugar apples, and grouper fish.
China’s also banned the export of natural sand to Taiwan.
Over 90 per cent of Taiwan’s imported sand and gravel comes from China, due to much higher transportation costs from other countries like Vietnam, according to a report from Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs.
China is Taiwan’s biggest trading partner, with 30% of Taiwan’s export going to China.
In another move to put pressure on Taipei, Beijing also announced sanctions against some institutions it deemed pro-Taiwanese independence including the Taiwan Democracy Foundation and the Foundation for International Cooperation and Development.
“The United States should not fantasise about distorting facts at will. The US side claimed that China is escalating the situation, but the basic facts are that the United States first provoked China on the Taiwan question and blatantly violated China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a statement released from Phnom Penh where he is attending the Asean Plus Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
“The introduction of the Taiwan question into the regional strategy by the United States, which inflates tensions and stokes confrontation, is against the trend of regional development and goes against the expectations of the people in the Asia-Pacific,” he added.
