Taiwan is making a strong bid to participate in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), despite Chinese obstruction, Premier William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.
As a member of the WTO, Taiwan is eligible to join the CPTPP, which is preparing to start accession talks with potential new members next year, Lai said in an interview with Central News Agency.
With Taiwan’s economic development record, it should be able to contribute to the CPTPP, but because of Chinese obstruction, it is difficult for Taiwan to become part of the trade pact, he said.
Photo: CNA
The difficulties facing Taiwan are not domestic, but “are completely because of political obstacles from China,” Lai said.
In addition to ensuring that it meets the requirements, Taiwan has to seek the support of current signatories to the accord, the premier said.
Although China is not one of the nine signatories, it is trying to influence member countries to block Taiwan’s participation, he said.
Given Beijing’s recent actions to suppress Taiwan, it would not be surprising to see it redouble its efforts on the trade deal, he said.
The government will nonetheless continue its work to join the CPTPP, Lai said, citing as an example its efforts to amend domestic laws.
The signatories to the CPTPP last month agreed to start a second round of accession talks next year, when the trade deal is due to take effect, and Taiwan is pushing hard for inclusion in those talks, he said.
Taiwan has been hoping to join the trade pact since it was first put together as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was renegotiated in March after the US pulled out, and has evolved into the CPTPP.
Lai also said the government remains committed to making Taiwan “nuclear-free” by 2025 and the public need not fear power shortages.
The government will do its best to meet electricity demand, improve air quality and increase green energy use by 2025 as it phases out nuclear power, he said.
By 2025, the government wants 20 percent of energy to be green — mainly solar and wind power — 30 percent to be coal-fired and 50 percent to be generated from liquefied natural gas.
Asked about the business community’s electricity supply concerns, Lai said that the operating electricity reserve margin has remained above 6 percent over the past two months, so there is no indication of a power shortage.
“All I can say is that Taiwan’s power generation does not meet the standards of some people,” Lai said.
Some believe that the reserve margin should be at least 10 percent, he said adding that the government aims to reach that goal next year, for example by installing new generator units at the Tunghsiao Power Plant in Miaoli County and the Dalin Power Plant in Kaohsiung.
Nuclear plants supply about 12 to 15 percent of electricity, Lai said, adding that phasing out nuclear energy by 2025 would not be significant and would not put Taiwan’s industries at risk of a power shortage.
Wind and solar power installations would be sufficient to replace the nuclear plants, he said.
As for concerns over possibly higher electricity prices due to use of more renewable energy sources, Lai said that any increase would be minimal and would not significantly affect manufacturing industries.
Taiwan is dependent on imported energy and should find ways to ease some of that reliance by moving more toward solar and wind power, he said.
The development of offshore wind power can also help build a new industry and increase job opportunities, he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it