China said Friday it has resumed imports of Taiwan groupers, a high-end fish that had been banned since last year, at the request of the island's main opposition party in an apparent attempt to influence the Jan. 13 presidential election in the territory.
Beijing had suspended Taiwan grouper imports since June 2022, saying excessive levels of chemicals were detected. The island's largest opposition Nationalist Party -- also known as the Kuomintang or KMT, which seeks dialogue with the mainland -- had demanded the lifting of the ban.
Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the resumption follows rectifying measures taken by local fishermen and that the mainland is willing to offer assistance in restarting the island's exports of agricultural and aquatic products.
As long as "Taiwan independence" is opposed, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will "continue to be one family, and issues within a family are easy to solve," Zhu said.
China opposes Taiwan's ruling, independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, calling its leader and presidential candidate Lai Ching-te, a "separatist" and "troublemaker."
Communist-ruled China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 following a civil war. KMT nominee Hou Yu-ih has been trailing frontrunner Lai by a narrow margin in the election campaign.
