Farmers in Taiwan Province angrily smashed pineapples in protest, and the pulp was scattered at the gate of the Executive Yuan. (data picture)
More than 200 farmers in Taiwan Province recently went to the "Executive Yuan" of Taiwan authorities to protest their grievances and smashed pineapples in front of the gate. This summer, the wholesale price of pineapple on the island dropped to one in 10 yuan (NTD, the same below), while two or three years ago, the same pineapple was exported to the mainland and sold to 100 yuan. When some farmers protested, they shouted abuse on the spot, that is, "Taiwan independence" harmed Taiwan Province fruit farmers.
Fruit harvest is "disastrous"
Taiwan Province fruit prices plummeted this summer. First, the banana collapsed, and the purchase price of the south-central producing area fell to 5 yuan per kilogram, and the poor varieties were only 1 yuan per kilogram. Then the pineapple was in a hurry. The pineapple with good wholesale price and quality in Gukeng Township, Yunlin County was only 10 yuan per kilogram, which was not enough, and the inferior products with poor sales were still neglected in 2 yuan per kilogram.
The latest disaster is pitaya. In previous years, the top pitaya was 1 kg in 200 yuan, but this year, only 20 yuan is left, and wholesalers only accept large ones, not small ones. Chen Haiyong, a fruit farmer in Yujing District, Tainan, said that Lin Congxian, the chairman of Taiwan’s "Agricultural Committee", publicly said that pitaya would be the next fruit whose price plummeted, and "officials said such things and caused market panic", which was the biggest responsibility.
Taiwan Province is famous for its fruits. Why has this year’s harvest turned into a disaster? Because of the small market in Taiwan Province, when the fruit output suddenly increases, it has to be absorbed by export. However, the Japanese market, which favored Taiwan Province fruits in the early years, has now turned to Philippine fruits with lower prices. Since Democratic Progressive Party took office, he has pursued the policy of "far from the mainland" everywhere, pushing this big market which is most suitable for Taiwan Province fruits further and further.
Fruit farmers on the island denounced Taiwan’s "Executive Yuan" when they protested, just because "Premier" Lai Qingde said, "I am pragmatic ‘ Taiwan independence workers ’ " , let cross-strait relations fall into a freezing point, affect the sales orders, and cause chaos in Taiwan Province’s supply and demand market. "After March this year, the export orders were gone, and everything ‘ Finished ’ " .
A few years ago, there was a bumper harvest of fruits in Taiwan Province, but the result was quite different, only because the mainland started emergency procurement at the first time. In 2011, when Ma Ying-jeou was in power, there was a bumper harvest of bananas in Taiwan Province, but before the plight of farmers came, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council had already grasped the situation, and the head of ARATS personally flew to Taiwan Province to discuss procurement matters. During a recent visit to fruit farmers, Ma Ying-jeou said that better cross-strait relations can help Taiwan Province farmers sell their fruits to the mainland, but unfortunately such sales channels are almost gone … …
Blame farmers for not being smart.
Democratic Progressive Party authorities should have taken responsibility for blocking the sale of fruits and helped fruit farmers out of their predicament. However, the so-called "solutions" put forward by the Taiwan authorities are either superficial or purely show-making, which is basically useless. What’s more, officials of the authorities have even criticized farmers for being "not smart".
In the face of peasant protests, Lin Congxian, the chairman of Taiwan’s "Agriculture Committee", took out "three arrows" and said that it was necessary to strengthen export, processing and direct promotion. Taiwan’s "United Daily News" commentary pointed out that these three tricks are "basic common sense" that can be applied to the production and marketing of all agricultural products. How can they save the emergency? The exporters of agricultural products on the island bluntly said that direct selling and processing were originally done by everyone, so why did the Taiwan authorities come? It is ok to export. The Korean market likes pineapples very much, but the tariff is as high as 30%. What has the Taiwan authorities done in the face of the export dilemma?
What is even more speechless is that Lin Congxian actually accused the peasants in turn, saying that "it is smart agriculture now, and it is necessary to be smart to avoid natural disasters." According to this divine logic, the decline in fruit prices is caused by farmers being too stupid to plant too many kinds. As for the evil cause of the Taiwan authorities blocking sales, it doesn’t matter.
Earlier, the "Agriculture Committee" also questioned that the collapse of fruit prices was "fake news" made by the media. Lai Qingde’s coup to promote bananas is to "boil bananas with skins and dip them in soy sauce", while Democratic Progressive Party’s "legislators" perform eating bananas with skins &hellip on the spot; … Taiwan Province’s "China Times" commented that poor farmers in Taiwan Province not only need to be on guard against heavy rain, but also have to carry heavy loads in the "dry talk" of the authorities and ask for more happiness.
Mainland procurement sees the truth
The official communication mechanism between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits stopped, and the emergency procurement mechanism of the mainland could not be started. However, in the face of Taiwan Province farmers’ requests for help, the mainland still tried its best to lend a helping hand.
According to Taiwan Province media reports, Huang Jianting, the county magistrate of Taitung, looked for a sales channel in the mainland in early June, and Wuxi and Xiamen promised to purchase pineapples. The first batch of 16.8 tons was shipped in containers on June 30 and sold to Wuxi. Huang Jianting said that this is the first batch of pineapples sold to the mainland in Taitung this year, and Fujian also promised to buy 500 tons of pineapples in Taitung. Xu Ruigui, director of agriculture, revealed that Wuxi entrusted Taiwan Province traders to "purchase" farmers with 25 yuan per kilogram, setting the highest export price of pineapples on the island in June this year.
Meanwhile, the "2018 Summer Taiwan Province Fruit Festival" opened in Beijing on June 30th. The event was sponsored by the Taiwan Province Affairs Office of the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, the Miaoli County Government of Taiwan and the Beijing Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, with pineapple and mango produced in Taiwan Province appearing in succession. Lin Zijun, the person in charge of Taiwan Province Guorantian Marketing Integration Company, said that the fruit exhibition is of substantial help to alleviate the unsalable situation of fruits in Taiwan Province.
China Times commented that Taiwan Province’s market is too small to rely on the mainland. To solve the fruit problem in Taiwan Province, we should abandon political prejudice, actively communicate with the other side and help agricultural products to be sold to the mainland. Will the Democratic Progressive Party authorities listen to such a big truth?
Our reporter Wang Ping