台湾の「フリーダム・パイナップル」運動、対中依存の高さ露呈

【屏東ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国は今月、台湾産パイナップルの輸入を禁止した。以来台湾では、地元産パイナップルを買い支える動きが盛んになっている。しかし農家の不安は消えず、台湾経済の対中依存度の高さを問題視する声も強まっている。（写真は台湾・屏東県でパイナップルを収穫する農家）
　台湾で生産されるパイナップルの大半は現地で消費されるが、輸出用の９０％は巨大な中国市場で販売されていた。
　しかし、中国は害虫が検出されたとして、今月１日、台湾産パイナップルの輸入を禁止。突然の措置を受け、今後の暮らしに不安を抱いた農家はパニックに陥った。
　中国による害虫検出の主張について、台湾側は、近年は中国向けパイナップルの９９．８％が検疫に合格していたとして、これを退けた。
　呉釗燮外交部長（外相）は、中国とオーストラリアの関係が急激に悪化した際、ワインなどの豪産品が中国で高関税の対象になったことを引き合いに出し、「オーストラリアのフリーダム・ワインを覚えていますか？」とツイッターに投稿。「世界中の同志にお願いしたい。台湾を支持し、フリーダム・パイナップルの名の下に再び団結を」と呼び掛けた。
　パイナップル産地の屏東県の農家は、地元の買い支えムードを歓迎。一方で、収穫は始まったばかりだとして、尚早な勝利宣言には慎重な態度を示している。
　これまでは収穫量の半分を中国に輸出していたという農家は、「買い支えブームが、収穫がピークを迎える来月まで持たないのではないかと心配だ」と語った。
　ある稲作農家は、台湾産品の販売先を多角化させる時が来ていると思うとして、「私たちはより強くなって、自立しなければならない」「台湾は独立国家。常に他者に頼ってばかりではいられない」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/03/25-11:00）

A Chinese ban on pineapple imports from Taiwan has sparked a flood of patriotic buying of the fruit and forced restaurants to come up with inventive new menu choices but it has also left many questioning Taipei's overwhelming economic reliance on its giant neighbour.
While much of the island's pineapple crop is consumed at home, 90 percent of its overseas shipments head for sale in the vast Chinese market.
However, that leaves its farmers at the mercy of Beijing's authoritarian leaders who view the self-ruled democracy as their own territory and have vowed to one day seize it, by force if needed.
And on March 1 they suddenly imposed a ban on pineapples citing the discovery of pests, sending panic among the fruit's farmers fearing for their livelihoods.
This is a political issue that we farmers are unable to resolve, lamented plantation owner Min Lee-ming, as dozens of workers rushed to pluck, trim and box up the fruits in Taishan, a rural part of southern Pingtung County known locally as Pineapple Town.
We just want to live a stable life and we need to make ends meet, he told AFP.
The ban led the government in Taipei to put out a call for solidarity -- and the people of Taiwan responded.
Social media has filled with calls for consumers to buy pineapples while restaurants are coming up with ever more ways to add pineapple to their offers.
Among the food choices now on offer are pineapple salmon pasta, pineapple seafood rolls, pineapple shrimp balls with red curry fried rice, pineapple chicken and bento boxes featuring the fruit with meat.
- 'Cannon fodder' -
A government-declared goal of selling 20,000 extra tonnes of the fruit domestically achieved its target in just four days, helped by major local conglomerates who jumped on large orders to boost their profile.
Sunny Liao, a 53-year-old businesswoman, was among recent diners at a hotel in Taipei now offering some 20 pineapple themed dishes and drinks.
She said she wants to see tensions lowered between Taiwan and Beijing and favours the two sides talking but the latest move has left her furious.
I think all Taiwanese are angry at the ban and I feel farmers have become cannon fodder to be sacrificed, she told AFP.
The Taishan region sends around 70 percent of its harvest across the Taiwan Strait and farmers are now scrambling to find new markets.
We've depended too heavily on China, fretted Chen Yu-nung, 30, who runs a fruit packaging factory. We shouldn't have put all our eggs in one basket.
Taiwan's 23 million people live under the constant threat of invasion by China which has long used a mixture of carrot and stick to bring about its stated aim of reunification.
Relations have considerably worsened since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen who views Taiwan as a de facto sovereign nation, not part of Beijing's one China.
But despite the increase in tensions, bilateral trade rose 13.5 percent on-year to $216 billion in 2020, including $1 billion of produce, according to Taiwan's official data.
Taipei has rejected China's claims over pests in the pineapple shipments, saying 99.8 percent of imports in recent years had passed inspection.
- 'Everyone is vrey nervous' -
The south, where most of Taiwan's pineapples are grown, is the traditional heartland of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
Political figures were quick to liken the ban to heavy tariffs China placed on certain Australian products, including wine, when relations between those two countries took a dive.
Remember Australia's Freedom Wine? tweeted foreign minister Joseph Wu. I urge like-minded friends around the globe to stand with Taiwan and rally behind the FreedomPineapple.
Back in Taishan, farmers say they have been delighted by the domestic drive to buy more pineapples.
But they caution against early declarations of victory given the harvest has only just begun.
Next month is when we will know if we have won or lost, said Min, the plantation owner. Everyone is very nervous.
I am worried the domestic buying spree won't last when the harvest peaks next month, added Lee Bai-wei, 28, saying half his crop would usually go to China.
Tseng Chin-yun, a 60-year-old rice farmer, said she believed it was time for Taiwan to diversify where it sells its products to.
We need to be stronger and stand on our own, she declared. Taiwan is an independent country and we can't always rely on others.
College student Hsu Ying-chih, 21, works part-time in the fruit packaging factory and has seen shifts dry up the last two weeks.
But he doesn't think Taiwan should cave to Chinese pressure.
Taiwan is a country and 'one China' is unacceptable, he said.
If we concede in order to hold talks on agricultural issues, they will push the envelope further in other areas.