The durian, known as the ‘King of Fruits’ in Southeast Asia, is being used as China’s diplomatic weapon against Southeast Asia. While opening the market to countries that are friendly to their country, the import threshold for countries that go against their will is raised.
According to the Malaysian Mail on the 26th, the Malaysian government began exporting fresh durian fruits to China on the 24th. As the first export volume, 40 tons of durian from eight companies were shipped to China by air. Malaysia has been exporting frozen durian to China since 2019, and this is the first time it has exported fresh fruit.
The expansion of the export route was made possible by Chinese Prime Minister Li Chang’s visit to Malaysia in June. At that time, the two countries decided to allow imports of Malaysian fresh durian fruits to China in order to expand cooperation, which was the first shipment in two months.
Durians’ nose-poking smell makes them turn their heads around for the first time, but yellow flesh, on the other hand, is popular for its sweet taste and soft texture like butter. It is also called the “King of Fruits” due to its high nutritional value.
The biggest customer of durians is China. HSBC, a global investment bank, said in a report in September last year that 91 percent of the world’s durians are consumed in China. The country imported 1.4 million tons last year alone, worth 6.7 billion dollars. China imports most of its durians from Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand and Vietnam. Although the country grows its own durians in Hainan, the southernmost province in China, the volume is extremely low, and the taste and quality of the durians are still lagging behind those of Southeast Asian countries. In the process, the Chinese government is trying to tame the country by taking advantage of its status as the world’s largest consumer of durians.
In fact, China’s import of Malaysian durians is interpreted as a “gift” for Malaysia’s close ties with China. Malaysia has been relatively conciliatory toward the South China Sea issue, in which China and Southeast Asian countries are having territorial disputes.
It also allowed Huawei, a Chinese company, to participate in the 5G mobile telecommunications business, and applied to join the BRICS, an emerging market alliance led by China and Russia, last month. In other words, China has paved the way for expanding exports of agricultural products to Malaysia, which is friendly to China.
China also uses durians as a means of checking countries with uncomfortable relations. In June, the Chinese government abruptly stopped importing durians from 33 suppliers, including 18 farms and 15 distributors in Vietnam. The ostensible reason is quality concerns. Heavy metals exceeding the standard were detected.
However, some analysts say that the move was actually intended to keep Vietnam in check, which is engaged in a war of nerves over its sovereignty in the South China Sea. China proposed a “carrot policy” of granting permission to export to the Dian in July 2022 as Vietnam was seeking to become closer to the U.S. This year, however, Vietnam and the Philippines started a joint military exercise in the waters of the South China Sea.
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
