An wuren (five nut) mooncake Photo: IC

Ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival on October 1, Hong Kong-based moon-cake manufacturer Taipan Bread & Cakes has reportedly attempted to resume sales on some e-commerce platforms in the Chinese mainland, only to find that consumers continue to boycott its products. 

Some internet users have posted on social media Sina Weibo that Taipan has resumed sales on some e-commerce platforms in the Chinese mainland such as Taobao, Nanfang Metropolis Daily reported on Tuesday.

But on Tuesday, the Global Times couldn't find Taipan's products on major e-commerce platforms including Alibaba's Taobao and JD.com. Searches for the brand and relevant keywords generated no results.

"We firmly boycott Taipan moon-cakes and every brand that supports Hong Kong independence, while strongly supporting Maxim's moon-cakes," said a post by a Weibo user named "Qinglangyekong".

In September 2019, mainland internet users called for a boycott and mainland e-commerce platforms removed Taipan's products after the founder's son Garic Kwok posted images and words on social media in support of violent protests in Hong Kong, and smeared the government and police force of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

After his posts went viral in the mainland, Kwok deleted them and posted a statement saying "I apologize if my words are misunderstood or offend someone" but that they were a "personal share" not related to Taipan. But that didn't appease angry internet users and they told the brand to leave the mainland.

A former Beijing-based distributor of Taipan products, who preferred to be anonymous, told the Global Times on Tuesday that she is mainly selling Maxim's moon-cakes this year. The distributor said that almost all the outlets she served had rushed to cancel orders for Taipan moon-cakes after the controversy in the mainland last autumn.

"Mainland consumers are expected to continue their boycott of the Hong Kong-based brand. No brand can make profits in the mainland while damaging the country's integrity in violation of laws and regulations," said Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China in Beijing.