Taiwan lifted all restrictions on Japanese food imports on Friday in another show of support for Tokyo after reports that China will stop purchases over a row with the new prime minister.

The government in Taipei imposed a blanket ban on food imports from five Japanese regions in and around the site of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, before easing some restrictions in 2022 and 2024.

Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that “Japanese food safety management measures return to normal”, with immediate effect.

“Since 2011, Taiwan has conducted border inspections on over 270,000 batches of Japanese food for radiation testing, with a failure rate of 0 percent,” it said in a statement.

“The risk assessment of additional radiation exposure risk from Japanese food is ‘negligible’,” it said, citing unspecified scientific data.

After Taiwan’s relaxation, only China, Hong Kong, Macau, Russia, and South Korea have specific import control measures for Japanese food products, the agency said.

Taiwan’s announcement comes after a row between Japan and China was triggered by a suggestion from new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi this month that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on the island.

China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

Images of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te holding a plate of sushi were posted on social media on Thursday in a show of support for Tokyo.

Lai, an outspoken defender of Taiwan’s sovereignty and detested by China, has accused Beijing of “severely” affecting regional peace in the escalating spat.

China’s foreign ministry branded Lai’s posts a “stunt”.

AFP