Asia-Pacific

Taiwan Envoy Urges Citizens to Binge Buy Japanese Food Amid China’s Suspension of Many Imports from Japan

From Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s Facebook page
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te enjoys Kagoshima Prefecture yellowtail and Hokkaido scallops on Thursday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:59 JST, November 22, 2025

Taiwan’s top representative in Japan on Friday urged people in Taiwan to “go on a buying spree” of Japanese agricultural and marine products to show support for the country, his office said in a statement.

Lee Yi-yang, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, made the call after China effectively suspended imports of Japanese seafood in retaliation for remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in a Diet committee regarding a possible Taiwan contingency.

According to the statement, Lee criticized Beijing’s move as being “intended to damage Japan’s economy.”

He recalled that when China halted imports of Taiwanese pineapples in 2021, “the people of Japan rallied behind us, and Japan has now become the largest importer” of Taiwanese pineapples.