Strict ‘Taiwan’ labeling urged under one-China principle
Secessionists ‘feel squeeze’ of mainland responses
In further possible economic fallout from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to Taiwan island, the Chinese mainland reportedly moved to tighten the enforcement of labeling rules on imports from the island, indicating that the mainland will not allow any ambiguity on the Taiwan question, including in the economic and trade area, experts noted.
US tech giant Apple told its suppliers to strictly comply with the Chinese mainland’s customs regulations and avoid labeling products from Taiwan island as “made in Taiwan,” the Nikkei reported on Friday.
Experts said the new move could further squeeze the living space of secessionist businessmen in Taiwan island for their businesses in the Chinese mainland.
According to the Nikkei report, Apple told its suppliers that mainland authorities have started strictly enforcing a long-standing rule that states Taiwan-made parts and components must be labeled as made either in “Taiwan, China” or “Chinese Taipei” to avoid shipments from being held for examination.
The Apple warning came on the heels of another media report that shipments to Apple’s supplier Pegatron Corp’s factory in Suzhou, East China’s Jiangsu Province, were being held for examination by Chinese customs, to see if there is any violation of labeling regulations. But Pegatron denied the report, saying that its Suzhou plant is operating normally and there have been no shipment disruptions, according to Bloomberg.
Apple declined to comment when contacted by the Global Times.
Early in 1999, China’s General Administration of Customs already stipulated that goods and their packaging with labeling content in violation of the one-China principle will not be approved for import or export. This means that the mainland’s regulations regarding the management of certificates of origin and labeling in cross-Straits trade have been enforced for many years.
A tightening of the labeling rule may not just affect Apple’s suppliers, but all those that send shipments from Taiwan island to the mainland, said Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing.
According to Gao, the enforcement of the labeling rule had not been very strict in the past. Since the Taiwan authority requires exported goods made in the island to be labeled as “Taiwan” or the so-called “Republic of China,” many exporters from Taiwan used to label the boxes loaded with goods as “Taiwan, China” after leaving Taiwan ports to dodge the regulation, said Gao.
“If the mainland authorities tighten the enforcement of the rule, this may increase the probability of shipments from Taiwan island being seized by mainland customs,” Gao noted.
Ma Jihua, a veteran industry analyst, said that there will be no grey zone in implementing the one-China principle, and that the move will effectively squeeze the living space for secessionists and deprive them of their funding sources.