Vehicles from Zhang Xue, a Chinese electric heavy-motorcycle brand, have been impounded by Taiwan customs. Founder Zhang Xue has publicly declared that he will keep "sending them until unification," and government agencies have taken a hard line — bad news for Taiwanese consumers and for importers hoping to find a way around the rules.

• A Taiwanese owner disassembled a complete vehicle into parts, imported them in separate shipments and reassembled them in Taiwan; after a public tip-off, the items were seized in a cross-agency operation.
• The Ministry of Economic Affairs said complete Chinese heavy motorcycles and their engines are already banned from import, and that taking them apart and reassembling them constitutes circumvention of the law.
• Zhang Xue vowed to pay owners' legal fees and to send another vehicle whenever one is impounded — "until unification." The Ministry of Economic Affairs called the remarks "hard to understand."
• The comments clearly echo Beijing's official united-front rhetoric, turning a commercial dispute into a political statement.
• The Customs Administration stressed that it will guard closely against false declarations, smuggling and the breaking-up of shipments into parts, and that it will enforce the law without compromise.

Outlook: Taiwan will not relax its ban on imports of Chinese motorcycles, and further seizures and penalties are likely to follow. Zhang Xue may also continue using vehicle shipments to generate publicity.