TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) announced on Monday (Aug. 21) that all Taiwanese mango imports will be banned immediately due to harmful citrus mealybugs found earlier this year.

TAO Spokesperson Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) said that the mealybugs pose a significant threat to China’s agricultural production and ecological safety. To prevent these risks at the source, the General Administration of Customs has decided to suspend the importation of Taiwanese mangoes beginning Aug. 21.

Taiwan has already been informed through channels established in the Cross-Strait Arrangement on Cooperation of Agricultural Product Quarantine and Inspection, Zhu said. Beijing also urged Taiwan to improve its plant quarantine management system, she added.

Zhu claimed that these measures are standard biosecurity precautions, scientifically sound, and in compliance with China's relevant laws, regulations, and standards. On Friday (Aug. 18), the spokesperson accused Taiwan of curbing the import of Chinese products, potentially violating certain World Trade Organization (WTO) policies.

China previously banned Taiwanese pineapples in 2021 and Taiwanese seafood and pomelos in 2022. In August 2022, Chinese authorities blacklisted 2,066 food products and over 100 food manufacturers from Taiwan prior to then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the country.

Beijing had also banned Taiwanese atemoyas imports until June.