Preparing for Chinese blockade, Taiwan unveils wartime food plans, enough rice for months

TAIPEI — Taiwan’s government offered rare details Oct. 22 about its wartime food plan, saying it is taking monthly inventories of crucial supplies like rice and ensuring they are stored properly across the island. , in the event of a Chinese blockade.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has for the past five years staged almost daily military activity around the island, including war games involving blockades and attacks on ports. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

China’s latest war games around the island, held last week, included blockading key ports and areas and attacking sea and land targets, Beijing said.

In a report to Parliament on preparations in the event of a Chinese blockade, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, Taiwan’s Agriculture Ministry said it had ensured that rice stocks were above the three-month level as required by law, and that food supplies were to be stored across the island in an attempt to “reduce the risk of attack”.

The ministry said Taiwan’s current rice stocks were sufficient to sustain the island for at least seven months and that plans to ration rice through supply stations across the island were being made in the event of a food crisis.

During the lockdown, more agricultural land will be used for rice cultivation, the ministry said, adding that it will also prioritize growing sweet potatoes, soybeans and fresh vegetables, as well as using more lakes for aquaculture.

In a scenario where sea fishing is not permitted, the ministry stated that the island’s fish feed inventory will be sufficient to support fishing in lagoons for more than three months.

The ministry said it plans to create a working group to ensure food supply security by taking a monthly inventory of the island’s food resources.

Taiwan, an agricultural powerhouse during Japanese colonial rule from 1895 to 1945, depends on imports for most of its food needs as agricultural land was taken over by factories during rapid industrialization that began in the 1960s.

Taiwan’s food self-sufficiency rate in 2023 fell to 30.3 percent, the lowest level in 18 years, according to a previous ministry report.