On April 12, 2023, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China issued Announcement No. 11 of 2023, announcing the conduct of a trade barrier investigation on Taiwan, and on October 9, 2023, it issued another announcement announcing the extension of the deadline for the trade barrier investigation to January 12, 2024. April 12 and January 12, 2024 are very delicate time nodes, because the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan Island publicly elected Lai Qingde, who claims to be a "pragmatic Taiwan worker", on April 12 to sprint for the 2024 "general election", and January 12, 2024 is the day before the "general election" on Taiwan Island. When the Ministry of Commerce of the mainland announced that it would conduct an investigation on trade barriers on Taiwan, it was widely believed that the Ministry of Commerce would announce the results of the investigation on January 12, 2024.
Since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took control of Taiwan again, it has not promoted measures to reduce trade tariffs in accordance with the agreement negotiated between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, but has erected layers of obstacles for mainland goods to enter Taiwan, thus preventing 2,509 kinds of mainland goods from entering the Taiwan market. In response to the investigation requests put forward by relevant enterprises, the Ministry of Commerce of the mainland began an investigation into Taiwan's trade barriers on April 12, and also submitted relevant notes at the World Trade Organization. According to the announcement issued by the Ministry of Commerce on December 15, according to the results of the investigation and Article 31 of the "Foreign Trade Barriers Investigation Rules", the Taiwan Island area was determined to constitute trade barriers.
By setting various requirements on Taiwan, the procedures involved in prohibiting mainland-related products from entering the Taiwan market are all non-public, and it is obvious that this is an action taken by the DPP authorities on Taiwan Island to achieve so-called unilateral profits. In fact, the mainland has repeatedly urged Taiwan to remove trade barriers through the World Trade Organization, but Taiwan is "going its own way" and is betting that the mainland will not dare to make a move, and will continue to grab huge benefits from the mainland through trade barriers, and at the same time, it will also purchase US arms through the benefits obtained from the mainland, so as to enhance its ability to "resist reunification by force."
When Taiwan is sprinting for the 2024 "general election", the mainland Ministry of Commerce announced the results of the investigation on Taiwan's trade barriers, which has a rhythm of early showdown, and the mainland Ministry of Commerce determined that Taiwan constitutes a trade barrier, thus providing a basis for countermeasures through legal means. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has publicly stated that it supports the results of the Ministry of Commerce's trade barrier investigation, and at the same time supports the adoption of measures to deal with trade barriers on the island of Taiwan. Judging from the statements of the mainland's Ministry of Commerce and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the mainland will not be accustomed to the bad behavior of the Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of "eating mainland rice and smashing the mainland's pot", so there is a situation where the results of the investigation are announced in advance, and now it is a critical moment for Taiwan to sprint to the 2024 "general election".
As a matter of fact, the DPP authorities on Taiwan Island have no basis for justification, because according to the principle of free trade, Taiwan has no reason to prohibit 2,509 mainland products from entering the Taiwan market, and the DPP authorities on Taiwan have completely violated the WTO's principle of free trade. From the erection of trade barriers on Taiwan, we can see the strategic intention of the DPP authorities on the island, that is, they only want to obtain benefits for vested interest groups, regardless of the improvement of cross-strait relations.