Taipei has welcomed a draft report by senior Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation officials released yesterday which supports the entry of both Taiwan and China into the World Trade Organization by the end of the year.
The draft report, presented during the first day of senior officials' meetings, focused specifically on the relationship between APEC and the WTO and called for a swift conclusion of "China and Chinese Taipei's" accession talks.
Speaking in Auckland, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Chih-kang (
"In the past, APEC has made statements like this, but they have never been this clear. We welcome this support," he said.
Taiwan's chief WTO negotiator was also upbeat. "APEC's support is an important step," said Chen Rui-long (
Wang appeared cautious about making any predictions as obstacles still remained, not all of which were political in nature.
"I don't think that the problem has everything to do with China. There are other technical details as well that need to be worked through," he said.
Wang is scheduled to meet representatives of seven countries over the next two days: Indonesia, Australia, the US, New Zealand, Thailand, Canada and Brunei. The talks are considered routine, annual meetings on bilateral trade.
Senior sub-ministerial officials will meet again today before handing their report to APEC ministers who meet on Thursday and Friday.
Noting the efforts of both China and Taiwan, the document urged that they be admitted at the "earliest opportunity, if possible before the Third WTO Ministerial Meeting in Seattle." The meeting takes place in November.
Taiwan's accession is widely considered a less difficult matter to resolve than China's, as the island has concluded all but one of its bilateral negotiations with WTO members. The lone holdout is Hong Kong, which has said it will not sign until the WTO is ready to accept China.
China's accession has been held up by its delayed negotiations with the US and the European Union -- the WTO's two biggest members. Problems over trade disagreements aside, a big obstacle has been the tension in relations between the US and China, triggered by the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.
Yet, going by early indica-tions, it appears that China and the US may settle their differences at the APEC meeting, where US President Bill Clinton is expected to meet Jiang Zemin. If that happens, and a deal is somehow struck on China's WTO entry, then it would open the door for Taiwan's entry as well.
Chinese officials apparently expressed their pleasure with the draft report yesterday. As Chen pointed out, no Chinese officials had thrown any political barbs in Taiwan's direction by saying that China should enter the organization before Taiwan does.
The report will be under review until the informal meetings between senior officials end today. It will then be passed on to APEC trade ministers who will meet in Auckland tomorrow and Friday ahead of an APEC leaders' meeting on Sunday and Monday.
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