Does exporting agricultural products mean farmers make money? The 2019 agricultural political trade war propaganda show plays out again

By Jiao Jun (author of the book Fruit Politics)

Preface: Looking back at the cross-strait situation in 2005 and comparing it with more than a decade later, it remains just as perilous. In 2005 there was an earth-shaking "Lien-Hu meeting," hailed as a cross-strait thaw, which also created a boom in Taiwan fruit sales to China. More than a decade on, official cross-strait exchanges have stalled, but the CCP's united front tactics toward Taiwan have become more refined, especially its winning over of the hearts of farmers in the lower and middle classes, which has not slackened for a single day.

As coincidence would have it, the campaign slogan of newly elected Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu, "Goods out, people in, Kaohsiung strikes it rich," seemed to echo in the air with CCP General Secretary Xi's latest Taiwan policy. The media also confirmed that Taishang in Pingtan, Fujian alone placed an order worth 20 million to purchase agricultural and fishery specialty products from Kaohsiung and southern Taiwan. Mayor Han is very clever; fearful of being branded a red hat, he at the same time vigorously promoted market channels in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, China and other countries. But is all of this just a beautiful mirage conjured by politicians? Or a benefit that can truly reach farmers? The author will analyze this in a series of articles, of which this is the first.

The goods have been sold? Is Kaohsiung about to strike it rich?

This time (2019), the first to set in motion the export of Taiwan fruit (and other agricultural and fishery specialty products) were Taishang in Pingtan, Fujian, rather than the previous Shanghai, Beijing or Xiamen. But anyone with eyes can see clearly that this is a "propaganda operation" tactic meant to highlight that "the intermediate process has not been monopolized by other improper 'comprador groups.'" That day's news headline blared: "The goods have been sold! Fujian purchases 20 million in Kaohsiung agricultural products, delivered directly from Kaohsiung Port in the afternoon." The Taipei Express docked at Kaohsiung Port would carry container after container of agricultural specialty products from Kaohsiung and, in just nine hours, clear customs quickly and arrive at the Pingtan port to begin sales.

Interestingly, at the same time the Kaohsiung City Government also issued a news release stating that the Taiwan agricultural specialty products exhibition held in Hong Kong, China by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council would purchase jujubes from the Kaohsiung area, proving that "the goods have already gone out," and next, with people coming in, Kaohsiung would strike it rich!

But is the matter really that simple?

The second Chinese political purchase, aimed straight at the hearts of Taiwan's people

Going back to the cross-strait agricultural exchanges that began with the 2005 Lien-Hu meeting, it was a political spectacle in which "propaganda mattered above all." The units that cooperated in the performance at the time were all targets selected as a result of "political calculation." Those able to take part were either past "contributors to cross-strait agricultural exchange" or "those with substantive benefit for cross-strait agricultural exchange united front work." It was just that this political spectacle later went sour. At the time, the Kuomintang comprador group monopolized China's policy-based procurement orders for Taiwan agricultural products, which sparked the Sunflower Movement and ultimately led to a backlash in the 2016 presidential election.

Four years later, when the Democratic Progressive Party suffered a crushing defeat in the 2018 local elections, did the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party once again launch a "second round of policy-based agricultural product procurement orders"? Up to now there has not been any very obvious "move above the table," but it can be seen that, with the Chinese side no longer trusting Taiwan's political parties and politicians, it decided to find its own trusted "white-glove intermediary units." These newly emerging "intermediary groups" appear to wear the cloak of Taishang, using a legal agricultural product trading business to cover a political purpose behind it.

From this point of view, given the consistency of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party's Taiwan policy, there will not be much change; or rather, this is again an operation of the same medicine in a different bowl: in the past there were the Yunlin logistics company and the Kaohsiung Agricultural Development Company as intermediaries, and now they have been replaced by new Taishang like the Huagang Group. That is all!

So then, the interesting question is: is this new propaganda spectacle really all set up to make the new Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu look good? Or does the CCP's Taiwan policy have another, higher aim, one meant to "aim straight at the hearts of Taiwan's people"? As for this part, let us just keep watching the show! (Special series to be continued)