The government yesterday said it would continue to seek Tokyo’s support and understanding after a top Japanese official said that Taiwan is unlikely to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) because of the result of its referendum banning certain Japanese food imports.
“Japan’s reaction is understandable and this is going to be a strenuous challenge for Taiwan,” Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said, adding that the Cabinet has instructed government agencies to communicate with Tokyo.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release said it would continue to engage in “earnest communication” with Japan and handle with discretion any possible actions Tokyo could take in response to the passage of a referendum on Nov. 24 that called for a continued ban on imports of Japanese agricultural and food products from Fukushima and four other prefectures after the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster.
Photo: EPA-EFE
A total of 7,791,856 people, or 78 percent of the votes cast, favored retaining the ban, further tying the hands of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, which has sought to relax the major impediment to bilateral trade relations.
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo yesterday, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono reiterated Tokyo’s regret over the referendum’s passage, which he said has unfortunately made Taiwan’s bid to join the Japan-led CPTPP unlikely.
“If this [Taiwan’s import ban] violates WTO regulations, Japan does not rule out taking the matter to the WTO. In addition, the CPTPP pact is expected to take effect this year and it is very regrettable that this matter has made it unlikely for Taiwan to join the partnership,” Kono said.
It was the first time Kono has directly connected the import ban on Japanese food products with Taiwan’s chances of joining the CPTPP.
The ban has also resulted in the suspension of the Taiwan-Japan Economic Partnership Committee, which was established in 2013 as a platform for discussing economic, trade and investment issues.
After the conclusion of the annual Taiwan-Japan trade and economic meeting in Taipei on Nov. 30, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Secretary-General Chang Shu-ling (張淑玲) conveyed Taiwan’s hope of being included in the CPTPP to her Japanese counterparts through different channels.
“We hope that Japan could offer us more assistance, including through the exchange of information,” she said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who initiated the referendum, in a press release said that Japan’s use of the ban as a threat showed that the DPP’s claim that Taiwan-Japan relations are “at their best” is a lie.
“Taiwan and Japan have always had an uneven trade relationship. Taiwan holds a trade deficit of NT$600 billion [US$19.45 billion] with Japan. Haven’t we bought enough?” Hau asked, adding that the Taiwan-Japan relationship should not be built solely on meeting Japan’s demands.
According to Ministry of Finance statistics, Taiwan had a trade deficit of NT$634.8 billion with Japan last year.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fan and CNA
PREPAREDNESS: Given the difficulty of importing ammunition during wartime, the Ministry of National Defense said it would prioritize ‘coproduction’ partnerships A newly formed unit of the Marine Corps tasked with land-based security operations has recently replaced its aging, domestically produced rifles with more advanced, US-made M4A1 rifles, a source said yesterday. The unnamed source familiar with the matter said the First Security Battalion of the Marine Corps’ Air Defense and Base Guard Group has replaced its older T65K2 rifles, which have been in service since the late 1980s, with the newly received M4A1s. The source did not say exactly when the upgrade took place or how many M4A1s were issued to the battalion. The confirmation came after Chinese-language media reported
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
RSS