Name: How China uses fruit to punish Taiwan
Uploaded: 2022-04-12T02:35:34.000Z
Duration: 10 min 12 s
Description: VoiceTubeの動画で発音を聞きながら英語表現を覚えよう！学べる英語：

[in Mandarin] I have been helping my family farm  since I was in school.

Hsieh is one of hundreds of farmers in Taiwan that grow atemoya

[in Mandarin] The texture is rather chewy.

[in Mandarin] It is sweet, but it has a hint of sour,  making the flavor unique.

It's one of the island's most popular fruit exports.

Every season, farmers like Hsieh export around 14 million kilos.

But in September of 2021, China banned  all imports of atemoya.

[in Mandarin] I was surprised it finally happened.

Overnight, Hsieh lost 70 percent of his orders.

But this story is about more than just  fruit, pests, or trade.

Atemoyas are a symbol of deep tensions  between Taiwan and China

So how did this innocent tropical fruit  get caught in the middle of all this?

The complicated relationship between China and Taiwan dates back to the 1940s.

Back then, China was in the middle of a brutal civil war between

When the communists won, they established the People's Republic of China on the mainland.

The nationalists fled to Taiwan and  called it the Republic of China.

They both declared themselves the rightful ruler of China.

A claim that today only the mainland  really upholds.

Taiwan isn't officially recognized as an independent country.

But it has developed into  a self-governing democracy

with a constitution, legislature, and president.

Since the civil war ended, Taiwan's KMT party has been in power most of the time.

And while they maintained sovereignty  they also grew closer to China.

But in 2014, many felt they got too close.

They passed a trade pact that opened up Taiwanese industries to Chinese investment.

And thousands of protesters stormed the government.

[chanting] "Review the trade pact! Review the trade pact!"

They feared the pact would hurt  Taiwan's economy and

leave it vulnerable to pressure from China.

Soon after, Taiwan's opposition party was voted into power

for only the second time in the island's history.

And this new president continued to push back against China.

“We will not accept the Beijing authorities' use of

'one country, two systems' to downgrade Taiwan

And undermine the cross-strait status quo."

[in Mandarin] It's been five years, and cross-strait  relations are silent.

Instead, China has intensified its pressure campaign

“Complete reunification of the motherland can be

China has sent hundreds of fighter jets into Taiwanese airspace.

And they've conducted military drills designed to intimidate.

They've also coerced other countries and world organizations

A big part of China's pressure campaign comes down to

isolating Taiwan from the rest of the world.

But with this tropical fruit, China is doing something different.

China is Taiwan's largest trading partner.

More than a quarter of all exports  go to the mainland.

And that's in part because they offer incentives.

Like dropping all tariffs on these Taiwanese fruits.

[in Mandarin] On the surface it looks like an  “exchange”

but in reality it's a way to win  Taiwanese hearts.

[in Mandarin]It's a comprehensive top-down  strategy, wrapping around

Taiwan's agriculture, farmers and agricultural products like a net.

Like Hsieh who switched to growing atemoyas exclusively 7 years ago.

[in Mandarin] The export volume was increasing  dramatically.

So we took advantage of the trend and switched fully to atemoya.

There was so much money to be made selling to China,

that many farmers in the region also switched to atemoya.

This brought jobs and a more sustainable economy.

Because of all the incentives China offers Taiwan,

a huge number of farmers rely on China to make a living.

Because it allows China to disrupt trade flow with, say, a fruit ban.

Which could push them into blaming the government for worsening relations with China.

[in Mandarin] The motivations behind China's ban are  politics and elections.

[in Mandarin] China's ambition for Taiwan has always  been unification.

[in Mandarin] When they have patience, they might  give you small benefits,

hoping your impression of them will  slowly turn positive.

[in Mandarin] When they lose patience, they might  create psychological threats.

And while the threat might be aimed at Taiwan's government

it's farmers like Hsieh, who feel the impact the most.

Since the ban his income has dropped by more than 50 percent.

[in Mandarin] We need to help each other sell fruit  without losing money.

[in Mandarin] This is what we have to work hard on  right now.

Atemoyas are the latest target,  but not the only one.

Just like the atemoyays, China claimed the pineapples had pests.

[in Mandarin] I was very worried and scared when I  heard about the ban

because I already invested so  much money and effort.

Pineapples are the most popular fruit exported to China.

They account for about 60 million US dollars.

So pineapple farmers are stuck in the same cycle of dependency.

But this time, Taiwan did something different.

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How China uses fruit to punish Taiwan

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