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Porky China hogs Spain’s innards exports

Pig stomach, brain and intestines are just some of the swine parts sold to China, which has become the biggest importer of Spanish pork off-cuts.

Porky China hogs Spain's innards exports
Pig heads, brains, intestines and stomach are just some of the parts exported to China. Photo of a pig's head

While the Spanish are a renowned nation of pork lovers thanks to the legendary jamón, and are not averse to enjoying the odd pig’s ear or trotter, there are some piggy parts that even they will not entertain the thought of eating.

But thanks to China, Spanish exporters now have a growing market hogging Spain’s pork off cuts and it is literally bringing home the bacon.

Exports of Spanish pork off cuts to China rose from €59.2 million in 2013 to €76.3 million in 2014, a 24 percent rise in one year, according to figures from Spain’s office of meat exports.

While China is the biggest importer of Spanish pork innards, it is currently the fourth biggest importer of Spanish pork as a whole, behind France, Portugal and Italy, importing €109 million worth of pork in 2014.

China’s ascent has coincided with Russia’s fall; Russia banned all imports of EU meat products in August 2014 in response to countries who imposed sanctions on Moscow to punish the country for the ongoing war in Ukraine.  

José Manuel Alvarez from Spain’s office of meat exports (OECE) told The Local that despite the closure of the Russian market, Spanish exporters have been looking towards Asian markets where pigs are flying…off the shelves:

"Since the closure of the Russian market, our exporters have been looking towards alternative Asian markets which has increased their sales prices more than almost all of their EU competitors.

"We are hoping to significantly increase exports to China in the coming years because of the opportunity it presents," Alvarez told The Local.

Spain currently ranks fourth among the world’s pork exporting nations, exporting eight percent of the world’s total, or 1.4 million tonnes.

The country is only beaten by Germany (18 percent) a nation known for its beloved wurst, USA (15 percent) and Denmark, home of legendary Danish bacon (10 percent).

In 2014, Spain exported a million tonnes of pork, worth €2.5 billion, a 9 percent growth on the year before, the Spanish Office of Meat Exports (OECE) told The Local.

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CHINA

China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as ‘political farce’

China on Tuesday blasted a democracy conference in Copenhagen attended by Taiwan's president and a Hong Kong activist alongside Danish government officials this week, qualifying it a "political farce".

China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as 'political farce'
Demonstrators gathered outside the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday. Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

The Copenhagen Democracy Summit was held Monday and Tuesday in the Danish capital and organised by the Alliance of Democracies, an organisation targeted by Beijing sanctions in March and founded by former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

In addition to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod also participated in the forum by video link, which Beijing said violated “the one-China principle.”

“This summit is a political farce,” the Chinese embassy in Denmark wrote in a statement published on Tuesday. “Inviting those who advocate Taiwan and Hong Kong ‘independence’ to the meeting violates the one-China principle and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” it said.

“Some hypocritical western politicians are good at meddling in other countries’ internal affairs and creating divisions and confrontation in the name of ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’. They are bound to fail,” it added.

At the conference on Monday, Kofod said it was “deplorable” that Beijing had imposed sanctions on 10 European individuals and organisations in response to EU sanctions on Xinjiang officials over their actions against the Uyghur Muslim minority.

Like most countries, Denmark applies the one-China principle — under which Beijing bars other countries from having simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taipei — though it does maintain relations with Taiwan.

Cut off politically from the rest of China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the territory is self-governing but is not recognised by
the United Nations.

Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province that will one day return under its control, by force if necessary.

China’s sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers breaching Taiwan’s air defence zone on a near-daily basis.

“Our government is fully aware of the threats to regional security, and is actively enhancing our national defence capabilities to protect our
democracy,” Tsai told the conference in a video address on Monday. US President Joe Biden is expected to present his China strategy soon, as
calls mount for him to publicly commit to defending Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

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