President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that Taiwan would show the world its ambition to be part of regional economic integration, as she hailed the significant progress made toward completing a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal at last week’s APEC economic leaders’ meeting.
The progress made proved that promoting comprehensive economic and trade cooperation through dialogue and exchanges remains the common hope of all 11 nations involved in the TPP, Tsai said at a meeting with the Taiwanese delegation to the APEC summit.
Following the US’ withdrawal from the TPP, the remaining 11 nations, led by Japan, said on the sidelines of the APEC summit on Saturday that they had “agreed on the core elements” of the TPP, which is now officially called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Photo: CNA
The progress poses opportunities and challenges for Taiwan in its bid to join the TPP, Tsai said, adding that her administration would strive to show international partners in the region Taiwan’s desire to be part of regional economic integration by continuing to transform its industrial structure and improve business fundamentals.
Taiwan will seek out opportunities to make its voice heard in the world, continue to boost its international visibility and demonstrate what it can contribute to the international community, Tsai added.
Tsai’s envoy to the APEC summit, People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), said that the delegation did its utmost to ensure that the world heard Taiwan’s voice.
He said Taiwan shared its experience in the empowerment of women, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and its efforts to tackle climate change during the summit.
Tsai praised the delegation’s work at the summit held in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang.
She also praised Soong for helping leaders of other countries understand Taiwan’s key role in developing regional economic and trade links.
Tsai said Soong greatly helped advance the goals of the government’s New Southbound Policy through informal talks with nations that are the focus of the policy.
The policy is aimed at forging closer economic and trade ties with Southeast and South Asian nations, as well as New Zealand and Australia.
During the summit, Soong and other delegation members held bilateral or multilateral talks with leaders and representatives of APEC and ASEAN, including those from the US, Russia and Japan, Tsai said.
Taiwanese delegates also exchanged greetings with Chinese officials, she said.
Taiwan is determined to support the establishment of multilateral and regional free-trade agreements and enhance cooperation with countries in the region under the APEC framework, Tsai said.
After meeting with Tsai, Soong, in response to media queries, said that during his 30-minute meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday, Abe told him that all Asian nations share a common hope for regional peace.
However, when asked about the relationship between Taiwan and China, Abe did not give any suggestion on what Taiwan should do to address the cross-strait issue, Soong said.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS