Taiwan has vowed to launch a NT$1 billion (US$36 million) drive to support its pineapple farmers after China banned the fruit’s export from the island.

Around 90% of Taiwan’s pineapples were sold to mainland China, before Chinese customs on Friday announced the ban on grounds of having discovered pests upon inspection. Taiwan said pests were detected in only 13 cases out of 6,200 batches of exports to the mainland last year.

The Taiwanese had known about the mainland’s action on Thursday night, ahead of the announcement, Apple Daily learned. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Su Tseng-chang hosted an emergency phone conference and discussed the matter with various departments.

Su told the Legislative Yuan on Friday that the government had determined the matter was a customs issue instead of a political one.

Tsai wanted Taiwan to analyze other agricultural products and seafood that were bound for mainland China, in order to prevent further action, agricultural minister Chen Chi-chung told Apple Daily Taiwan.

The island would launch a NT$1 billion drive to reduce the negative effects on its pineapple farmers, Chen said.

Taiwanese foreign minister Joseph Wu started a hashtag, #FreedomPineapple, urging support.

Aegis, a restaurant in Taipei run by Hong Kong protesters in exile, promoted a new product on Facebook named “Siblings Pineapple Pastry” and promised to “eat all the Taiwanese pineapples.”

In Hong Kong, shops also backed the Taiwanese produce. including the pro-democracy Call Fruit and Juicy Frutti. The latter said that it would stop selling pineapples from the Philippines next week and sell Taiwanese ones instead.

Restaurant Cafe de JarGor announced its menu would include baked pork chop with rice and an iced drink made with Taiwanese pineapples from Sunday. The change would increase operating costs that would not be passed on to diners, it said.

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