Japan's Sankei Shimbun Taipei Branch Director Akio Yada said on the 19th that the mainland suddenly announced an embargo on Taiwanese grouper, and thousands of tons of grouper that were originally going to export from Pingtung County, Kaohsiung City and other places had nowhere to go. Lin Shenping, chairman of Japan's largest fishery farm, is preparing to import 2 to 3 tons of Taiwanese grouper for restaurant operators to try it. Later, he will organize an inspection team to Taiwan to confirm the breeding status of grouper and then officially start grouper imports.
Who is Lin Shenping? He is very pro-Taiwanese and was once the president of the Fukushima branch of the "Japan Lee Teng-hui Friends Association". It is said that the reason why he wanted to import Taiwanese grouper was because he was "gratitude" to donations from all walks of life in Taiwan after the 2011 Japanese earthquake , and he always hoped that one day he would repay his "kindness".
When the DPP authorities heard this, they were so happy. On the 20th, Zheng Yunpeng, secretary-general of the Party and League of the Democratic Progressive Party's Legislative Yuan, held a press conference and said that this is not only a "good-intention exchange between the two sides after the March 11 earthquake, but also a cycle of reward and kindness after the opening of the blessing food." The so-called "Fushi" is actually Japanese nuclear food. The DPP authorities are worried that the people on the island will continue to rebound, so they played such a text game, calling "Fushima Food" abbreviated as "Fushi". On the same day, Chen Chimai, mayor of the Democratic Progressive Party, said that whether Japanese or Western cuisine, grouper is a delicacy on the table, and is also a noble fish species with delicious meat. Many Japanese friends like Taiwanese grouper very much and believe it will be a market with great potential.
However, Taiwanese netizens did not appreciate it and left messages to scold. Some people said bluntly, "It has been promoted for a long time, and will not wait until now?" Some people said, "The black-hearted manufacturer produces poisonous fish, and then exchanges for nuclear food." Some people mocked, "Taiwan suffers a small loss when exchanged for nuclear food."
In fact, it can be concluded from three points that Taiwanese grouper will not sell well in Japan, and the DPP authorities' abacus will inevitably fail.
First point, grouper is positioned as a high-priced fish species in Japan, and most of them appear in super high-end Japanese restaurants, not ingredients that ordinary people would purchase. This means that Japan will not import very much.
According to relevant statistics from Taiwan’s “Committee of Agriculture”, Taiwan grouper is sold in more than 6,000 tons a year, and 90% are sold to the mainland. The amount of imports from Japan is very small. In the past 10 years, Japan imported the most Taiwanese grouper in 2017, with 55 tons, and the minimum is only 1 tons. 2 tons were imported in 2021. From January to May this year, less than 1 tons of Taiwanese grouper sold to Japan. Compared with the mainland before, it was at least 6,000 tons per year, Japan's imports were basically negligible.
Guo Jianxian, chairman of the Taiwan Bream Association and assistant professor of the Department of Aquatic Biology Sciences at Chiayi University, analyzed that basically Japanese people will eat it as long as it is fish, but the price is too expensive, which will test acceptance; in addition, Japanese people have a relatively rigorous personality, so it is not as easy to sell grouper to Japan as it is to the mainland.
Second point, Japan's inspection and quarantine are very strict, how can you accept "poisonous fish" in Taiwan?
Zheng Yunpeng said at a press conference on the 20th that Japan will not lag behind the mainland for the safety of food shipped to Japan from all over the country. So just right, let Japan test Taiwanese grouper and prove our "innocence". In February last year, the mainland suspended the import of Taiwan pineapple due to the detection of scale insect , and the DPP authorities refused to admit it. Later, some Japanese merchants purchased the so-called "democratic pineapple", and scale insects were also detected. Didn't they also suspend input like the mainland?
Third point, the Japanese have always had concerns about Taiwanese grouper.
After Taiwan's pineapple was banned from import by the mainland last year, Taiwan's "Committee on Agriculture" immediately shouted that it would actively develop the Japanese market. However, after the "grouper incident", the "Committee on Agriculture" did not see that the "Committee on Agriculture" wanted to develop the Japanese market, and the main targets of exports were New Zealand , the United States and Canada. This is because dragon and tiger spot usually grows on reefs and will eat algae , causing algae poison in grouper bodies. Japanese people have always been afraid of "snow card poison". This is also a major reason why Japan rarely imports Taiwanese grouper.
In short, the DPP authorities lack overall marketing plans for grouper exports, and product quality is often criticized, and prices are not competitive. When problems arise, they will push the responsibility to the so-called "continental suppression" and never look for reasons from themselves, trying to inspire "populism" to cover up the incompetence of governance.
If this continues, what competitiveness does Taiwan’s products have in the international market? By then, not only will the mainland ban imports, but Japan, the United States and other regions will not tolerate pests or toxins. Therefore, if you want to restore the export of agricultural products to the mainland, you must assist the farmers on the island to completely improve their breeding methods. The DPP authorities blindly protest, curse and sue are useless and will not help to improve the livelihoods of Taiwanese farmers.
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