Updated: 2025-10-06 9:56 PM Tags: China, cross-border e-commerce, low prices, The Epoch Times, live animals [Epoch Times, October 6, 2025] (Epoch Times reporter Lai Wenru, Taipei, Taiwan) China’s low-price model for cross-border e-commerce shopping has changed Taiwanese consumer habits while also posing a potential national security risk. The current customs system, known as the EZ Way, uses honest declaration and random inspections, leading Chinese sellers to frequently misreport and smuggle prohibited items such as live animals. Experts say the smuggling chain is interconnected, and the government must eliminate third-party payment loopholes and strengthen accountability to prevent sellers from exploiting payment system vulnerabilities to evade responsibility. E-commerce platforms should also bear joint and several penalties.
In recent years, Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms have attracted Taiwanese consumers with their extremely low shipping costs, and the flow of Chinese packages to Taiwan has become a regular occurrence. However, with the explosive growth in the number of packages, the number of cases of illegal animals and plants being smuggled through border crossings has also skyrocketed. This not only impacts border quarantine but also poses a real threat to Taiwan’s agricultural ecology and biosecurity, becoming a national security challenge that cannot be ignored.
In the first three months of this year, the Ministry of Finance’s Customs Administration’s Kaohsiung Customs seized 53 cases of prohibited items from Chinese ocean express delivery, including live animals, e-cigarettes, and miniature cannons. These packages were ordered from Taobao and mostly falsely declared as plastic models. X-rays revealed the live animals.
Wang Po-Chi, associate professor of the Department of Criminal Justice at Ming Chuan University, told The Epoch Times that the rampant smuggling of both tobacco and emerging pets is primarily due to excessively high taxes. For example, the price difference between taxed and duty-free cigarettes can be as much as double, including tobacco taxes and fees. If there’s market supply and demand, some people will take these risks. Regarding emerging pets, Wang Po-Chi stated that, in his observation, keeping emerging pets has become a trend among young people. According to unofficial statistics, approximately 10% of young people choose to keep these novelty pets. In a sense, these pets appeal to young people’s desire for novelty, which also means that if imported through formal and legal channels such as pet shops, the unit price of these emerging pets is relatively high.
To prevent risks in cross-border parcels from China, joint liability and accountability should be strengthened.
Cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Taobao, and Pinduoduo attract consumers by touting low or free shipping costs. For example, Pinduoduo offers free shipping to Taiwan for orders over RMB 49 (approximately NT$220). Taobao also launched the “Global Apparel Free Shipping Plan,” offering free shipping on orders over RMB 99 (approximately NT$448) in designated categories in Taiwan. However, these conveniences conceal significant national security risks. Wang Po-Chi stated that while these cross-border e-commerce platforms offer significant convenience, they also present a significant problem: most imports rely on online declaration systems, such as EZ Way, which are largely based on the principle of honesty.
However, if a seller is dishonest, such as misreporting live animals as other goods, Wang Po-Chi believes the platform cannot evade responsibility by claiming, “I’m just a platform, I didn’t know.” Since customs currently mostly uses random inspections, it becomes difficult to trace if illegal goods slip through.
As for how to prevent cross-border risks, Wang Po-Chi believes the government should strengthen the responsibilities of platform operators and customs brokers. Beyond penalizing the perpetrators, the government should also expand penalties to include related customs brokers or companies. They should be held jointly liable in accordance with regulations such as the Company Law, as the entire smuggling chain is interconnected. Wang Po-Chi also noted that third-party payment systems sometimes create “gap points” in enforcement, leading e-commerce platforms to attempt to shirk responsibility by claiming, “It’s none of our business.” This seems unreasonable, and platforms should also bear joint and several disciplinary liability to prevent sellers from exploiting loopholes in the payment system to evade responsibility.
Wang Po-Chi noted that many e-commerce platforms have branches in Taiwan, and the competent authorities can use this as a basis for management. If a platform’s cumulative number of violations reaches a certain threshold, the competent authorities should be able to suspend or prohibit the platform from operating.
As for individual cases, Wang Po-Chi believes that platforms should require sellers to report truthfully. If violations are discovered, the platforms should be able to seek compensation from the sellers or require them to absorb the costs. Crucially, the platforms themselves should also bear joint and several disciplinary liability.