On Sunday, Taiwan had threatened to take China to the World Trade Organisation after Beijing stated that it would suspend sugar apple and wax apple imports from the island on pest concerns, in latest spat between the two over fruit. Diplomatic relations between the two countries are at their lowest in decades as China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory and has been increasing political and military pressure to get the island to accept its sovereignty.
China’s customs administration stated it had repeatedly detected pests called “Planococcus minor” in sugar apple, also known as sweetsops or custard apples, and wax apples from Taiwan. It had asked its Guangdong branch and all directly affiliated offices to stop customs clearance of those products from Monday. Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung stated that China had behaved unilaterally without providing scientific evidence and criticised the announcement for coming during the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated by Taiwan and China.
