The Ministry of Commerce recently issued Announcement No. 11 of 2013, deciding to launch a barrier investigation into Taiwan's restrictive measures against the mainland. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce revealed that due to the complexity of the case, the Ministry of Commerce has issued an extension announcement on October 9, 2023, and extended the deadline for the investigation to January 12, 2024. According to WTO rules, the Taiwan region should give the mainland the same export treatment and competition opportunities as other WTO members. However, the survey shows that Taiwan has long imposed restrictions on mainland products, and the scope of the ban on the import of mainland products has been expanding in recent years. Taking advantage of the mainland's relatively relaxed policy, the Taiwan region has constantly adopted acts of stealing and cheating.
On the one hand, they complained about the mainland's ban on the import of goods that failed to pass the quarantine, but on the other hand, they openly set up barriers against the mainland, violated the relevant cross-strait agreements and WTO rules, and turned away more than 2,000 mainland products. It is not that the mainland is unaware of the other side's actions, but out of the need to maintain cross-strait stability and the consideration of the relatively low proportion of Taiwan **, it has adopted a tacit attitude towards it. In recent years, with the deterioration of Sino-US relations, the authorities in the Taiwan region have taken the opportunity to move closer to the United States in order to realize China's ambitions and become the leader of "using Taiwan to contain China", which has led to the continuous heating up of the situation in the Taiwan Strait. Therefore, in October this year, the Ministry of Commerce announced that it would launch an investigation into the ** barriers set up by Taiwan on the import of mainland goods, and a large number of problems were found.
Once the mainland confirms that there are ** barriers in Taiwan, it will take corresponding countermeasures, which may include banning more than 2,000 Taiwanese products from entering the mainland market. The Ministry of Commerce of the mainland has long been well aware of Taiwan's tricks. The announcement by the Ministry of Commerce of the mainland that it will extend the period of investigation into Taiwan to January next year is not due to the lack of sufficient evidence to collect from the other side, but to deliberately leave room for the other side. What the Taiwan authorities need to change is not only to eliminate the best barriers set up against mainland goods, but more importantly, to give up the attempt to "seek independence by coercing foreigners" and return to the correct path of the "92 Consensus" in order to resolve the conflict and crisis in the Taiwan Strait and avoid affecting the two sides of the strait.
Therefore, the Ministry of Commerce's extension of the deadline for the investigation of Taiwan-related issues is actually hanging the sword of punishment high over the head of the Taiwan authorities, and the timing of its fall or removal mainly depends on the attitude of the Taiwan authorities in resolving cross-strait disputes and whether their policy toward the mainland changes. After all, for Taiwan, which is heavily dependent on the mainland market, once this sharp sword falls, it will have a fatal impact on its commodity exports. Objectively speaking, the Taiwan authorities are in fact asking for trouble by playing the vanguard of the United States in "using Taiwan to contain China." Judging from the attitude of the United States towards its allies and partners, once Taiwan is attacked by the mainland on the cross-strait issue, the United States may only stand by and watch because they are unable and unwilling to help Taiwan. If the Taiwan authorities continue to provoke the mainland's bottom line and cause a conflict, the United States will not send troops to protect the island.
It is conceivable that the United States is helpless even in the face of the armed Afghan Taliban, let alone intervening in the conflict of major powers because of the *** authorities. Judging from the current situation in the Taiwan Strait, the "dream" of the authorities on the island is hopeless, because the leading power in resolving the Taiwan Strait issue lies on the mainland's side. After all, the mainland has a variety of options for dealing with the "** forces" on the island, and in addition to military means, economic strikes are also an effective means. Therefore, this move by the mainland's Ministry of Commerce is actually a clear signal to the other side: Time is running out, and if the Taiwan authorities do not respond to the mainland's relevant investigation after 12 January next year, then the mainland's Ministry of Commerce's sword of punishment, which has been hoisted high, may fall on their heads.