The government yesterday said that it would continue to bolster economic links with other nations in the Asia-Pacific region after the US formally pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.
US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order scrapping the US’ flagship trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations.
Taipei is to continue its efforts to expand bilateral economic and trade relations with nations in the region and actively participate in regional economic cooperation, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said yesterday.
The government’s economic development goals are to complete the upgrade and transformation of the nation’s economic structure and formulate an economic and trade strategy for the next phase, Huang said.
The government is promoting a “five plus two” development strategy and building economic links and cooperation with other economies in the region, he said.
The government plans to keep a close watch on the Trump administration’s economic and trade policies, Huang said.
Taipei is to continue talks with Washington under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement to strengthen economic and trade relations, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Taiwan would also work to relax regulations to establish free-trade agreements with the US and other nations, he said.
The government is to continue to push for bilateral investment deals and free-trade agreements with the US and countries in the Asian region, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said.
With the US’ withdrawal from the TPP, the impact of the trade deal would be diminished, National Development Council Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey (高仙桂) said.
The US is now more likely to seek major bilateral trade agreements than to participate in any efforts at multilateral regional economic integration, she said.
Global economic and trade relations can be expected to undergo significant changes, she said.
To avoid being marginalized amid regional economic integration, Taiwan should seek to establish bilateral trade deals with other nations, she said.
Taiwan Institute of Economic Research’s Economic Forecast Center director Gordon Sun (孫明德), said that Taipei should resume negotiations with the US on a bilateral trade deal, sign trade-in-goods agreements with regional economies to reduce tariffs on exports and promote its strategic location.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)