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Nation willing to talk to China at WTO

The nation is very willing to talk over trade and commerce issues with China on an equal footing under the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) said yesterday.

Ho made the remarks to reporters following a WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, in which she announced a declaration displaying the nation's support for flexible market opening.

As opening markets is the prevailing trend in global trade, Taiwan hopes to hold trade and commerce talks with China, including the establishment of the direct "three links" across the Taiwan Strait as two equal WTO members, Ho said. But she noted that no consensus has been forged in this regard between the two sides.

Speaking at the ministerial meeting, Ho said that the nation supports flexible market openings in all sectors to best assist and benefit developing countries and she called for the gradual opening of global agricultural markets.

She also expressed the hope that what was discussed regarding the service sector in this round of meetings could serve as a starting point for future negotiations on the opening of service markets.

Asked about Taiwanese farmers' protests outside the WTO, Ho said that the government respects the people's right to air their opinions, and added that the nation will stick to its stance of flexible market openings when it comes to sensitive sectors.
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