Mainland spokesman rejects Taiwan's claims on African swine fever

BEIJING - A Chinese mainland spokesman on Wednesday said the African swine fever outbreak on the mainland, initially reported in August, has been effectively dealt with and was under control.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks when responding to fabrications by Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration which reportedly claimed that the mainland was concealing facts about the outbreak, and the disease on the mainland was out of control.

Speaking at a press conference, Ma rejected DPP administration's claims as "sheer, intentional hype," saying they were an attempt to sow discontent towards the mainland among Taiwan residents.

The mainland's measures and achievements in the prevention and control of African swine fever have received recognition from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Ma said.

The mainland has been keeping updating related international and regional organizations on the African swine fever outbreak in a timely, open and transparent manner, the spokesman said, adding that as a member of the World Organization for Animal Health, Taiwan has access to information on animal epidemic diseases.

According to Ma, following the bird flu outbreaks across the Taiwan Strait in 2004, both sides agreed to establish a non-official channel, under which two specified organizations maintained regular exchanges of information on epidemic diseases in agricultural products that are currently not being traded between both sides. It ran smoothly before it was discontinued due to changes in personnel and functions in the concerned Taiwan-based organization in 2017, the spokesman said.