Green: Promoting Sugar Apples on Taiwan Affairs Platform is Misguided

(CNA, Taipei, June 22) Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh's recent statement that "sugar apples are an agricultural product that Taiwanese people hardly eat and are entirely dependent on the Communist Party's whims" has sparked discussion. DPP Legislative Caucus Secretary-General Chuang Jui-hsiung stated today that while Liang Wen-chieh's remarks may have made farmers uncomfortable, which is understandable, relying on a single market, especially China, and then promoting products on the Straits Forum, a platform for united front work, is misguided.

Taitung County Magistrate Rao Ching-ling participated in the Straits Forum via a pre-recorded video. The Mainland Affairs Council planned to investigate her for violating the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. Rao Ching-ling, however, argued that over 95% of sugar apples are exported to China and stated she was petitioning on behalf of the fruit. Liang Wen-chieh said that Taiwanese people hardly eat sugar apples, there is almost no domestic market, and production largely relies on procurement by the Communist Party, making it entirely dependent on their whims.

DPP Legislative Caucus Convener Tsai Chi-chang stated at a party caucus press conference this morning that agricultural products, like industrial development, face relatively high risks if concentrated in a single country. If that country happens to be China, the risk is even higher.

Tsai Chi-chang said that China's market operations are not based on market economics; economics are always linked to politics. For example, when China has short-term conflicts with Japan, it immediately employs economic measures. Therefore, concentrating on a single market, especially China, carries very high risks. Past examples like groupers and tourism followed the same logic, and history keeps repeating itself. The government can only continuously remind everyone to pay special attention.

Chuang Jui-hsiung pointed out that since 2021, whether it's mangoes, lychees, groupers, or Taitung's sugar apples, whenever agricultural products target the Chinese market, they frequently fluctuate with China's political, economic, or emotional state. The market might be open today and closed tomorrow, posing a significant risk.

Chuang Jui-hsiung said that from the perspective of an agricultural county, sugar apples are a non-issue because it is not the harvest season. Participating in the Straits Forum will not result in a single sale. Most farmers find the current hype around this issue inexplicable.

He believes that Liang Wen-chieh's words made farmers uncomfortable, which is understandable. However, he added that local leaders promoting agricultural products, even with good intentions, should not forget that the central government's earnest reminder about over-reliance on a single market is also for their own good. (Editor: Hsieh Chia-chen) 1150622

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