TAIPEI: Taiwan’s premier on Sunday accused China of violating international trade rules and “discriminating” against the island after it halted more Taiwanese imports.
According to Taiwan’s finance ministry, Chinese customs authorities “suddenly suspended” imports of certain alcoholic beverages from the island on Friday.
It said the move was related to a regulation Beijing imposed on January 1 that requires all food and alcoholic beverage exporters to the mainland to be registered with Chinese customs. Some Taiwanese companies had still been under review.
Premier Su Tseng-chang accused Beijing of violating World Trade Organization (WTO) norms by “making its own rules” and “meddling in trade through administrative means.”
China “is especially tough on Taiwan and especially discriminates against Taiwan... They’ve asked Taiwan to do this and do that,” he told reporters on Sunday.
Taiwan plans to appeal to the WTO and will assist the affected businesses, he added.
Beijing claims self-ruled democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be taken one day, by force if necessary.
It has ramped up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on the island since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, and has previously banned imports of other products from the island as relations deteriorated.
China slapped fresh bans on certain fruit and fish imports in retaliation for US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August, which prompted a furious response from Beijing and a flurry of military drills.
A year earlier, pineapple imports were halted after Chinese authorities claimed to have discovered pests in shipments, just as the annual harvest was under way
According to Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency, 11 out of 28 beer and distillery products registered by Taiwanese exporters had been suspended from Friday, citing Chinese Customs.
The affected companies include state-run Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corp.
Shipments of 123 out of 354 other beverage items have also been halted, including those from Taiwanese food giant Uni-President Enterprises, the report said.
Taiwan premier slams China over fresh import bans
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Taiwan premier slams China over fresh import bans
- Premier Su Tseng-chang: Beijing violating WTO norms by ‘making its own rules’
Chile wildfires leave 19 dead amid extreme heat as scores evacuated
- Fast-moving wildfires being worsened by intense heat, winds
- Firefighters battling 23 active blazes spreading toward cities
CONCEPCION, Chile: Wildfires in Chile have left at least 19 people dead, authorities said on Monday, as the government carried out mass evacuations and fought nearly two dozen blazes exacerbated by intense heat and high winds.
While weather conditions overnight helped control some fires, the largest were still active, with adverse conditions expected throughout the day, security minister, Luis Cordero, said at a news briefing on Monday.
“The projection we have today is of high temperatures,” Cordero said, and the main worry was that new fires would be triggered throughout the region.
Parts of central and southern Chile were under extreme heat warnings with temperatures expected to reach up to 37 Celsius (99 Fahrenheit).
STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN NUBLE, BIO BIO
As of late Sunday, Chile’s CONAF forestry agency said firefighters were combating 23 fires across the country, the largest of which were in regions of Ñuble and Bío Bío, where President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe.
Over 20,000 hectares (77 square miles) have been razed so far, an area about the size of Seattle, with the largest fire surpassing 14,000 hectares on the outskirts of the coastal city Concepcion.
The fast-moving blaze tore through the towns of Penco and Lirquen over the weekend, destroying hundreds of homes and killing several people, with authorities still assessing the damage.
HEAT, BLAZES ALSO IMPACT ARGENTINA
Authorities are currently battling the fire as it threatened Manzano prison on the edge of Concepcion and the town of Tome to the north.
Both Chile and Argentina rang in the new year with heat waves which have continued into January. Earlier this month, wildfires broke out in Argentina’s Patagonia, burning around 15,000 hectares.
