China-Taiwan tensions sour further over new type of pineapple

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Taiwan is looking to further restrict which seeds and saplings can be brought out of the island after accusing China of taking a pineapple cultivar developed in Taiwan. Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Taiwan is looking to further restrict which seeds and saplings can be brought out of the island after accusing China of taking a pineapple cultivar developed in Taiwan.

CHIAYI, Taiwan — For 24 years, plant scientist Kuang Ching-shan planted, then culled round after round of pineapple sprouts, hoping to develop a new cultivar of the tart fruit. In 2018, he finally hit the mark: a small, golden-yellow fruit with the luscious aroma of a mango.

His euphoria soon turned into helplessness, however. Last year, Taiwanese authorities discovered the patented fruit he had developed was somehow being sold in China.

"Do I care that China is planting my pineapples? It is hard to answer this question because my opinion cannot change anything," he tells NPR, sitting in his office in southern Taiwan, surrounded by plant cuttings and plates of fresh-cut pineapple.

Taiwan's deputy agricultural minister, Chen Junne-jih, is more blunt, calling the case blatant "robbery" and accusing China of agricultural pilfering spanning decades. Taiwan rice variants, orchid blooms, tea bushes, soybean sprouts, and edible fungi all have mysteriously been transplanted in China from Taiwan.

Taiwan is a self-governing democracy, but China's government in Beijing claims it as a province of its own that must unify with the mainland.

Beijing has cut off nearly all political exchanges with Taiwan, and cultural and economic ties between the two have plummeted. In the absence of more direct avenues to pressure the authorities in Taipei, the China has turned to agricultural proxies, like the humble pineapple, to turn the screws on Taiwan.

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Pineapples sit in containers after being picked in Taiwan. China's alleged theft of a cultivar of the fruit has caused tensions. Emily Feng/NPR hide caption

Pineapples sit in containers after being picked in Taiwan. China's alleged theft of a cultivar of the fruit has caused tensions.

The alleged theft of Taiwan's mango pineapple — formerly called Tainong No. 23 — has set into motion a debate across Taiwan on how to counter Chinese economic coercion and political influence. China had already banned imports of Taiwanese mangoes and actively encourages Taiwan-patented variants to be grown in China as part of unification efforts.

The alleged theft also highlights the challenges of Taiwan's diplomatic isolation. China has prevented the island from joining international institutions like the United Nations and its related organizations, including the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, the primary multilateral organization for adjudicating cross-border agricultural disputes over intellectual property.

Starting in March, Taiwan will further restrict which seeds and saplings can be brought out of the island, in response to the mango pineapple case.

Pineapples have outsize cultural importance in Taiwan. The tropical Asian island has made a name for itself by developing dozens of cultivars of the fruit, and today there are sour ones, sweet ones and a delectably named "champagne" pineapple on the market,named for the pale, creamy color of the flesh.

State of the World from NPR How a Pineapple Illustrates Relations Between China and Taiwan