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Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained
for the past two years of Chinese import bans on various
agricultural and aquatic goods, including pineapples and grouper
fish, saying it is part of a Chinese pressure campaign.
The latest bans cover more fishery products, chief among them
squid, as well as some beers and liquors, which China has said
is due to the Taiwanese companies not properly completing
relevant paperwork.
Speaking to reporters, Su said China was using administrative
means to "interfere" in normal trade which is not in line with
WTO norms.
The government will do its best to communicate with relevant
Chinese departments on the issue, he added.
"If there is any non-compliance with the relevant WTO norms, we
will also follow the relevant channels to file a complaint."
Taiwan and China are both WTO members.
In a statement late on Friday, China's Taiwan Affairs Office
said the problem was an administrative one in that the affected
companies were not properly registered and this was a "normal
food safety supervision measure".
It said it hoped that Taiwanese companies will provide the
information that meets government requirements as soon as
possible.
"At the same time, we are telling the relevant departments on
the island to immediately stop any political manipulation and
not to do anything stupid that harms companies on the island."
Agriculture is not a major part of Taiwan's
semiconductor-oriented economy but the farming and fishing
community is largely based in parts of the island that
traditionally support the ruling Democratic Progressive Party,
especially in southern Taiwan.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Beijing
newsroom; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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