China’s state media sings praises of homegrown pineapple, despite selling Taiwan species
Although mainland China’s state mouthpiece has been promoting pineapple produced in the southern province of Guangdong, the inconvenient truth is that among the many varieties, some of the most profitable are originally from Taiwan.
The latest Beijing-Taipei conflict has been fueled over Taiwanese pineapples, as mainland authorities banned the import of pineapples from Taiwan on Monday, blaming harmful pests that had been detected in recent shipments.
China News Agency has since reported on pineapples produced in Guangdong’s Xuwen county for two consecutive days, saying that residents in Xuwen had been cultivating pineapples for nearly a century.
Being a major pineapple producer in mainland China, the town located in the southernmost tip of Guangdong has won the title of the “hometown of pineapples in mainland China,” the report added.
“Xuwen pineapples are big, sweet, fragrant and beautiful. Its products include canned pineapple, pineapple wine, pineapple beverage, dried pineapple, concentrated pineapple juice, etc. They are sold all over the world,” it said.
The current purchase price is about 5 yuan (US$0.77) per kilogram, according to the Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Xuwen exported 477 tons of fresh pineapples last year worth about 2.5 million yuan.
Two particular varieties, however, have been developed by Taiwan.
In Taiwan, lawmaker Chen Ting-fei slammed former President Ma Ying-jeou, who took office from 2008 to 2016, for bringing Taiwan’s advanced planting technology, agricultural management experience and high-quality varieties of produce over to mainland China.
During Ma’s administration, Taiwanese businesses and agricultural workers were encouraged to conduct agricultural exchanges, a stark difference from his successor Tsai Ing-Wen.
Mainland China’s abrupt pineapple import ban and its consequences will be studied, said Executive Yuan spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng.
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