Zhu Fenglian Photo: Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council

Asked by a reporter for comment on Taiwan region leader Lai Ching-te's recent claim that the Chinese mainland is "weaponizing agricultural products and attempting to use agriculture as political leverage, including by arbitrarily banning imports and raising tariffs. The share of Taiwan's agricultural exports going to the mainland has fallen from 20.5 percent in 2015 to 11.5 percent in 2025; meanwhile, the US and Japan have become Taiwan region's two largest agricultural export markets," Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a regular press conference on Thursday that the mainland has always been an important export destination for Taiwan's agricultural products. 

We adhere to the principle that "people on both sides of the Straits are one family," and have made every effort to do practical work, deliver good deeds, and resolve difficulties for Taiwan compatriots, Zhu said.

Zhu noted that a series of measures have been taken to help farmers and fishermen in Taiwan expand into the mainland market, find sales channels for the region's agricultural and fishery products, and increase their income. As a result, more and more farmers from the Taiwan region are benefiting from Chinese modernization development and are enjoying a better life.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in Taiwan have long imposed unilateral restrictions on imports of mainland agricultural products into the island, covering more than a thousand categories of agricultural goods, obstructing normal cross-Straits trade and exchanges, the spokesperson said.

Furthermore, the DPP authorities have also threatened to punish county magistrates and relevant farmers' and fishermen's associations that actively promote the export of local agricultural and fishery products to the mainland. At the same time, they are "kowtowing to the US," selling out the island's core industries by implementing "zero tariffs" on 4,885 industrial products and 1,482 agricultural products from the US.

It is clear who is truly acting in the interests of the people and who is arbitrarily blocking their benefits. Grassroots farmers and fishermen in Taiwan are deeply worried, said Zhu, noting that the DPP authorities not only fail to help solve practical problems for farmers and fishermen, but also actively obstruct cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation, and even attempt to "sacrifice" local industries and livelihoods to please external forces, which has caused strong public anger.

Zhu urged the DPP authorities to stop political manipulation and do more things that benefit the well-being of the people in Taiwan.

Global Times