TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — DPP Legislator Wu Szu-yao (吳思瑤) on Sunday urged the government to ban Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Taobao from selling meat products in Taiwan.

Chunghwa Post has reportedly handled a large number of parcels from Taobao and Pinduoduo, another Chinese e-commerce firm, since August, per Liberty Times. Chinese pork products are allegedly evading Taiwan’s pandemic prevention measures by being shipped in small parcels.

Wu called on the government to prohibit Chinese e-commerce companies from selling meat products to Taiwan to protect the nation, per ETtoday. She warned that every meat product sold through foreign platforms could amount to “biological weapons and virus attacks against Taiwan’s meat market and economy.”

Wu urged authorities to require foreign e-commerce firms to remove Chinese meat products, similar to actions taken with local platforms such as PChome. She also emphasized the need to amend the Customs Anti-Smuggling Act and the Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases to strengthen enforcement.

In response, Chunghwa Post said that all parcels undergo customs inspections, including X-ray scans, to ensure they contain no animal or plant products, per CNA. The company added that parcels are only delivered after clearing customs.

Taobao said it employs a three-layered system to prevent Taiwanese users from purchasing meat products that could violate local laws, per UDN. The company blocks users with Taiwanese IP addresses from searching for or ordering the products, and, if that fails, forbids shipment to Taiwan addresses.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Agriculture official Lin Nien-nung (林念農) said Thursday that preliminary genetic sequencing of an African swine fever strain found in Taiwan suggests it is closer to the Vietnamese strain than the Chinese one, per CNA. He said more testing is needed before authorities can confirm the source.

Lin stressed that prevention efforts target all countries affected by African swine fever, not just China.