“Those who offend China must be punished, inevitably.” This is the warning issued on Wednesday August 3 by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. He made the statement after Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited the island of Taiwan.
In response to this trip, considered by Beijing as an American provocation, China deployed a series of trade sanctions against Taiwan on Wednesday. “The American side and the supporters of Taiwan independence will feel them over time”warned a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
China, Taiwan’s largest trading partner, has announced a series of economic sanctions: Chinese customs decided on Wednesday to suspend the import of citrus fruits and certain fish from Taiwan. They claim to have detected “repeatedly” a type of mealybug on citrus and having recorded excessive levels of pesticides. Packages containing two types of fish also tested positive for coronavirus, she said.
The Department of Commerce announced “suspend the export of natural sand to Taiwan” from Wednesday, without giving any explanation. Natural sand is typically used to make concrete and asphalt, and Taiwan relies heavily on China for its supply. Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture also said on Tuesday that China had invoked regulatory violations to suspend the import of various goods from the island such as tea and honey.
This is not the first time that China has targeted trade with other countries or with Taiwan. This is “a classic pattern for Beijing”notes Even Pay, an analyst specializing in agriculture at Trivium China. “When diplomatic and trade tensions are high, Chinese regulators generally adopt an extremely strict attitude in terms of compliance with the rules (…) looking for any reason justifying a trade ban”she adds.
China also announced military exercises around Taiwan as early as Tuesday. Some of these exercises will approach up to 20 kilometers from the Taiwanese coast, according to the coordinates broadcast by Chinese official media. “Some of China’s maneuvers encroach on Taiwan’s territorial waters”said ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang. “This is an irrational act aimed at challenging the international order.”
These exercises “will be watched very closely”estimated on franceinfo Marc Julienne, specialist in China at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri). “These will be large-scale exercises, exercises that are totally unprecedented in the history of relations between the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, probably with ballistic missile tests in the sea”he points out.