A steel-dumping dispute between Taiwan and China may bring the two political rivals to the negotiating table for the first time under the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
After refusing for months to conduct bilateral talks with Taiwan, China notified Taiwan's WTO representative office in Geneva late last month of its intent to open negotiations with Taiwan to discuss Taiwan's China-bound exports of cold-rolled steel.
"It will be a fixed-topic negotiation," John Deng (
Deng added that the representative office is still waiting for Taipei's instructions before responding to China's offer.
In the letter, China, however, referred to Taiwan's WTO representative office as the "WTO economic and trade office," instead of its official title, "the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu."
On Thursday, Taiwan's permanent representative to the WTO, Yen Ching-chang (
Yen refused to comment on whether the potential face-to-face trade talks under the global body would be hindered by the move, according to local media.
"It's Taipei's call, but our delegation will begin preparing for talks," Yen was quoted as saying.
But back in Taipei, Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (
Taiwan plans to send a delegation to Geneva next week to deal with the steel issue, according to foreign trade officials in Taipei.
Despite the name issue, pundits yesterday were upbeat about the possibility of breaking the ice on trade talks with China.
"We look forward to any chance of launching government-to-government cross-strait trade talks," said Wang Chung-yu (
Wang, who is also a KMT legislator, however, expressed concern that resolving disputes under the WTO framework will be very time-consuming. He said that he is not optimistic that such negotiations will reach any conclusions soon.
Tien Jiun-mei (
"It's better to talk to each other to resolve trade disputes," Tien said.
"If negotiations work, this may help [the two nations] make headway at setting up a dispute-solving mechanism for future cross-strait trade relations."
Taiwan's steel industry suffers from oversupply and exports some 60 to 90 percent of its steel production to China,Tien said.
In return, China may seek to persuade Taiwan to open up its steel markets during negotiations, she said.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
South Korea yesterday said that it was removing loudspeakers used to blare K-pop and news reports to North Korea, as the new administration in Seoul tries to ease tensions with its bellicose neighbor. The nations, still technically at war, had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. It said in June that Pyongyang stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean residents, a day after South Korea’s loudspeakers fell silent. “Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,”