"It was no surprise that investors rushed to cut their holdings today to avoid further losses down the road," [International Investment Services Corp. analyst Alex Huang] added. "Few investors appeared willing to pick up bargains for the moment despite the heavy losses, which kept turnover moderate."

Both the online Sina Taiwan platform and Sina Weibo became inaccessible Monday, and Sina's Taiwan operator, Sina.com Online Taiwan Branch (USA), confirmed later in the day that operations were temporarily stopped as part of an operational plan, without further explanation.

According to the Ministry of Finance, Taiwanese processed food exports to China and Hong Kong in 2021 totaled US$646.21 million and accounted for 32 percent of the total exports in that category.