1226 China Leaves Messages Unread"Our country sent five official letters to China inquiring about African swine fever, all with no response; the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council: China has no large-scale outbreak
The African swine fever outbreak is escalating, and Taiwan has repeatedly sent letters to the other side of the strait to inquire about epidemic-related information, yet has received no response. Today (the 26th), the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council stated that the interruption in contact between the two sides was due to a change in Taiwan's contact window. Li Tuizhi, deputy chairman of the Council of Agriculture, held an emergency press conference that evening in response, stressing that our country's contact unit has always been the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, but that no reply had been received regarding the other side's African swine fever information, and that it could only be learned through other channels.
In response to the Taiwan Affairs Office's statement that China has not had a large-scale outbreak and that the epidemic is already under control, Li Tuizhi directly criticized, "China's administrative regions include 23 provinces, plus autonomous regions and special administrative regions. The places where African swine fever has now broken out number 23 provinces. If that doesn't count as a large-scale outbreak, what does?"
Our side inquired five times with China about African swine fever prevention and control measures, all with no response
Zou Huijuan, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine under the Council of Agriculture, said that the other side first reported African swine fever in August of this year, and that through the cross-strait agricultural product quarantine and inspection business units, they contacted the mainland side, "inquiring successively five times about prevention and control measures, and hoping to promote a ban on incoming travelers bringing meat products, all with no response."
Zou further explained that there are mainly two channels for cross-strait notification. One dates to 2004, when, because of the foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza outbreaks on both sides of the strait at the time, Taiwan's Rural Development Foundation and the mainland's Cross-Strait Agricultural Exchange Association both notified epidemics through this channel, continuing all the way until 2017.
The other channel is the "Cross-Strait Agricultural Product Quarantine and Inspection Cooperation Agreement," signed in 2009 by Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, and Chen Yunlin, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. If a major epidemic occurs in agricultural products, or if harmful organisms are intercepted in imported or exported agricultural products, the two sides must notify each other. "Whether Taiwan exports to the mainland, or the mainland sells to Taiwan, as long as there is a major epidemic, prior notification is required." Taiwan's contact unit is the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, while the other side's was the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, which was transferred to the General Administration of Customs in April of this year.
Taiwan Affairs Office: contact window change caused the communication break; Council of Agriculture: it never changed
The Taiwan Affairs Office explained in the morning that the interruption in contact was due to a change in Taiwan's responsible window. In response, Li Tuizhi, deputy chairman of the Council of Agriculture, explained, "This is incorrect information. Taiwan's epidemic prevention window has always been the Council of Agriculture's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, and has never changed." Instead, it was the other side's window that was originally the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, which disappeared after organizational restructuring, and only later was it taken over by the General Administration of Customs.
The Taiwan Affairs Office said contact between the two sides was interrupted, but "in fact it was not interrupted at all." Li Tuizhi pointed out that, apart from the avian influenza outbreak, notifications still followed the original channel. The other side applied to our side for the import of Gansu Province cherries, and related procedures continued in between; only after the other side's organizational restructuring was contact interrupted.
But on the African swine fever outbreak, the other side continued not to respond. "We formally sent letters five times asking about epidemic-related questions, yet it was completely like a stone sinking into the sea." Li Tuizhi pointed out that Taiwan could only obtain epidemic information through other channels, and called on the other side to respect the "Cross-Strait Agricultural Product Quarantine and Inspection Cooperation Agreement" signed by both sides and to continue regular notifications.
Taiwan Affairs Office: China has not had a large-scale outbreak; Li Tuizhi: all 23 provinces of China have outbreaks, and that's not large-scale?
Regarding the Taiwan Affairs Office's clarification that China has not had a large-scale outbreak and that the epidemic is already under control, Li Tuizhi directly criticized, "China's administrative regions include 23 provinces, plus autonomous regions and special administrative regions. The places where African swine fever has now broken out number 23 provinces. If that doesn't count as a large-scale outbreak, what does?"
African swine fever outbreak in Hualien? Council of Agriculture: fake, rumors will be heavily punished
Regarding repeated reports in Taiwan that online purchases came with free meat products, Li Tuizhi explained that, in addition to requiring e-commerce platforms to remove related meat products, there are also systematic prevention measures: when it is detected that a shipping address is in Taiwan, a warning will be proactively issued that meat products must not be included. In the future, cross-ministerial discussions will also be held, moving toward amending or enacting laws, to take more active action against violating sellers or e-commerce platforms.
As for yesterday's internet rumor that an African swine fever outbreak had occurred in Hualien, Li Tuizhi also said it had already been confirmed that African swine fever had absolutely not invaded Taiwan, and that the test report was negative. Regarding the whistleblower who fabricated the rumor, questioning has already been completed. "We suggest that the Hualien County government impose heavy penalties on those who disrupt the country's major epidemic prevention policy."