The Chinese government has announced that it will temporarily suspend imports of citrus fruits and two types of fish from Taiwan and exports of natural sands, just hours after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
Chinese media reported on Wednesday that the country’s General Administration of Customs had suspended imports of refrigerated large head hairtail and frozen Japanese horse mackerel from Taiwan due to the repeated discovery of the COVID-19 virus on packaging materials.
The agency had earlier imposed a week-long ban on imports of two fish varieties from Taiwan in June, citing the same reason.
According to reports, the Customs Bureau also said importing citrus fruit from Taiwan has been suspended due to additional residues of citrus mealybug and two types of pesticides.
The new trade restrictions came just hours after Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on a US House speaker’s first visit since 1997, prompting China to conduct live-fire military exercises in the waters around the island on August 4-7
On Monday night, China’s Customs Bureau imposed a temporary import ban on products from more than 100 food manufacturers in Taiwan, including well-known brands I-Mei Foods, Wei Chuan and Kuai Kuai Co.
