The 5th WTO Ministerial Confer-ence ended in Cancun, Mexico on Sept. 14. The five-day gathering had a significant meaning to us, as Taiwan participated in such an event as an official member for the very first time.
It has been almost two years since the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar agreed in 2001 to start a new round of talks. However, the progress of many of the much-anticipated talks was not as successful as expected. Of course, there can be various explanations for such a negotiation process. But most of them are closely related to both "old politics" and "new characteristics" in the latest round of talks.
"Old politics" refers to the fact that even in the relatively simpler multilateral economic and trade talks in the past, each economy has tried all means at its disposal to obtain its ultimate interests by using its political and economic resources. Hence, "great power politics," "group politics" and official or unofficial alliances often take place during negotiations, while political struggles among different countries and groups seem inevitable. These old phenomena also occurred in this round of talks. Most obviously, both the US and the EU were still playing the role of superpowers in the Cancun talks, and had political fights with each other on issues favorable to them.
In terms of political groups and alliances, a group of core WTO members formed by both developed and developing countries is gradually having their impact on talks. These nations include developed countries, such as Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand and developing countries such as Brazil, China India,Chile, Mexico, Malaysia and Thailand as well as Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In addition, official and unofficial multinational groups and alliances were constantly being formed in the latest round of talks. These groups and alliances were quite flexible. They could be issue or regional-oriented, or be divided according to the degrees of their development. Apart from functioning as platforms for information-gathering and circulation, they are places where ideas come up, and often propose various suggestions that are able to advance, restrain or even block negotiations.
Despite the old political phenomena, a number of new characteristics or trends were also produced in this round of talks.
First, there was the active participation of developing countries, including poorly-developed countries. Apart from their aggressive applications to the world trade body, they also participated in multilateral talks more frequently, trying to form alliances or cooperate with one another on many issues in order to gain benefits. Perhaps this situation also matches the name of the talks -- the Doha Development Agenda, scheduled to be completed next year and to be implemented in 2005.
Second, the rise of negotiation groupism. As the total number of WTO members grows sharply, one-on-one or one-on-many talks seem infeasible. Developing countries are actively involved in WTO activities, while negotiation topics have gradually become more complex and diverse, involving the domestic political and economic situation of each member. Even a politically and economically great power can hardly dominate or control talks results today.
Therefore, cooperating with one another through alliances or groups to expand influence and ensure shared interests has become the new trend for talks. Besides, since the WTO works by consensus, it is difficult for those who act alone to reach a consensus with others.
Third, the traditional North-South problem and the antipathy between developed and developing countries have appeared in the WTO's operations. As a result, although the Doha Development Agenda was supported by the previous WTO ministerial conference, members could hardly reach a consensus on or purposely ignore development-related issues, or issues that involve either special or differential treatment.
Finally, many issues at the Cancun talks involved non-
customs duty barriers. Such talks may be easily affected by domestic political or other forces. Since these issues involve the redistribution of domestic social and economic interests, power politics and diplomatic wrestling cannot control the results anymore, as the WTO's negotiation mode is becoming more and more like business negotiation these days. In other words, the WTO talks are about figures, and certainly about money.
In the face of the political struggles and characteristics of the latest round of talks, apart from appropriately responding to the possible impact on the nation's industries, Taiwan should realize that the WTO is also an arena for diplomatic wrestling and exchanges of benefits. It should cooperate with others when proposing issues, in order to give full play to its own strength. It should also be particular about trifles in order to strive for its own interests. After all, Taiwan is already one of the makers of WTO regulations and no longer just an observer.
Johnny Chiang is an associate professor in the department of political science at Soochow University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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