Given all the strategic and security implications, joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement would be “immensely advantageous” for Taiwan, a new study said.
“It is imperative for Taiwan to knit itself into the economic and commercial fabric of the Asia- Pacific,” a National Bureau of Asian Research study said.
The study concludes that being a bystander at a time of accelerating regional integration would inevitably reduce the nation’s competitiveness and marginalize its role.
Written by trade expert Kevin Nealer and energy specialist Margaux Fimbres, the study said that TPP membership would make Taiwan more competitive, create trade diversification and reduce economic dependence on China.
It gives the incoming administration of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) four pieces of advice for undertaking the reforms needed to gain TPP entry.
First, work on the services sector where success would be most easily achieved before tackling more difficult reforms in agriculture and investor-state dispute settlement.
Second, do not consider the TPP as competition with China but rather consider membership on its own merits.
Third, engage in bilateral discussions with the 12 TPP nations — especially Japan — before launching a drive to enter the partnership in a second round of negotiations for potential new members.
Fourth, continue to pursue closer economic cooperation with the US through the trade and investment agreement framework.
“The TPP will require Taiwan to undertake comprehensive reforms that may prove politically difficult, raising the core question of whether the government can persuade a wary population to support a regional trade agreement that many see as leading to more job losses and a decline in economic opportunity,” the study said.
“The high standards of the TPP would leave little room for protectionism and inefficient trade policies. Concessions on tariff and non-tariff barriers would be daunting for Taiwan, given that joining the TPP would have implications for intellectual property, labor rights, investment and the environment,” the study said.
However, the alternative is simply unacceptable to the nation’s regional position and global competitiveness, the study said.
A major challenge might come in the form of opposition from China and other Asian nations might refuse to pursue economic ties with the island at the risk of offending Beijing, the study said.
Nevertheless, the nation has an opportunity now to take the necessary steps toward TPP membership, the study said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
RSS