Economic officials expect entry into WTO in November

Taiwan expects to be admitted to the WTO in November, shortly after China joins the body that sets rules for global trade, officials said yesterday.

A Taiwanese trade delegation will leave for Geneva early next month to attend what could be the final WTO meeting to evaluate the nation's membership, Vice Economics Minister Chen Ruey-long (陳瑞隆) said.

If Taiwan's bid is approved, the nation could be formally admitted to the organization at a WTO ministerial meeting in Qatar in November, Chen said.

Taiwanese newspapers yesterday quoted China's chief WTO negotiator, Long Yongtu (龍永圖), as saying that China also expects to be admitted to the WTO in November, just before Taiwan joins.

"It's a done deal. It's the consensus of all WTO members," Chinese-language media quoted Long, vice minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, as saying.

Taiwan has already completed trade negotiations with all WTO members, but its entry has been stalled because China has insisted that the nation must not be admitted before it does. China's 15-year campaign to join the WTO has been bogged down in negotiations over textiles and agricultural products.

Taiwanese officials have feared that China might ask its allies to help block Taiwan's accession.

Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and opposes the nation's membership in most international organizations. But Taiwan is not joining the WTO as an independent nation.

When Taiwan applied to join the organization in 1990, it called itself a "customs territory" that includes the main island of Taiwan and three outlying island groups under its control.