The APEC economic leaders’ meeting, which this year was held in Da Nang, Vietnam, came to a close on Sunday. Vietnam has passed the baton to Papua New Guinea, which is to host next year’s meeting.
Vietnam created a precedent this year by setting up an informal dialogue between APEC and ASEAN leaders. This meant that, in addition to enabling the leaders of the US, China, Russia and other nations to meet with APEC leaders, non-APEC member states from the ASEAN bloc, such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, were able to participate in the forum.
The innovation made for a more lively summit. Taiwan’s special envoy to the meeting, People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), was able to make good use of this platform and to interact with a variety of world leaders.
Established in 1989, APEC allows for interaction between officials on a number of different levels and, as Asia’s highest level body for the promotion of economic cooperation, is an important forum for exchange and interaction. This year’s summit was no exception.
By contrast, last year’s summit was overshadowed by the effects of the US presidential election and the global economic backdrop.
Since last year, the global situation has changed significantly. US President Donald Trump’s “America first” policy has brought about a 180-degree shift in US foreign and trade policies. Based on the principles of bilateral trade agreements and “fairness,” today’s White House is a far cry from past administrations’ pursuit of multilateralism.
While individual nations will naturally prioritize their own interests above those of others, when faced with the challenge of serious global economic volatility, one expects that nation states will still cooperate with each other for the mutual benefit of all.
It is for this reason that, despite the myriad disagreements and deadlock at this year’s APEC meeting, a spirit of compromise and a willingness to resolve disputes was firmly in the ascendant.
For example, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is now being spearheaded by Japan following the US’ withdrawal from the agreement, has a total of 11 members. Prior to the summit, TPP members released a statement saying that they hoped to achieve significant progress at the forum.
However, there were a series of setbacks during the course of the TPP talks in Da Nang. Vietnam’s chief negotiator walked out of a meeting, the Canadian prime minister failed to attend a discussion meeting, and negotiations between Japan and Canada broke down.
Despite these problems, all parties involved returned to the negotiating table in the end and agreed to include the concept of “tolerance” within the original agreement.
Under the new framework, a basic consensus was reached. Significant headway was achieved, despite individual differences.
During the APEC meeting, Australia and Peru signed a bilateral trade agreement, while Vietnam used the opportunity to invite the leaders of Chile, Canada, China and other nations to state visits.
APEC has become an important platform for the leaders of Asian nations to interact closely with each other.
As for Taiwan, due to obstruction by China, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was unable to attend the meeting and was forced to send Soong as an envoy of “Chinese Taipei.”
Despite these measures, bilateral talks with other nations still had to be conducted in an extremely low-key manner.
Although Soong was seemingly treated as an equal and with respect by other members of the economic bloc, he was still cut off and at a disadvantage, unable to interact directly with other leaders.
At the hands of Chinese suppression, even the most trifling of actions by Taiwan’s envoy — whether it was eye contact, a handshake or a simple greeting — was leapt upon by domestic media and commentators as a further example of the nations’s enfeebled status on the world stage.
This year’s ASEAN summit followed hot on the heels of the APEC meeting and was held from Sunday to Tuesday in the Philippine capital, Manila. As the pace of regional economic integration quickens and the world develops a new model of economic order, individual nations are proactively building ties and forming alliances with each other.
Not only must Taiwan be careful not to belittle itself on the world stage, but it must do all it can to gain traction and keep moving forward.
The harsh reality is that Taiwan is in a never-ending struggle for survival. The government cannot afford to take its foot off the gas.
Lu Yi-hsuan is a special reporter at the Liberty Times.
Translated by Edward Jones
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
In China, competition is fierce, and in many cases suppliers do not get paid on time. Rather than improving, the situation appears to be deteriorating. BYD Co, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer by production volume, has gained notoriety for its harsh treatment of suppliers, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability. The case also highlights the decline of China’s business environment, and the growing risk of a cascading wave of corporate failures. BYD generally does not follow China’s Negotiable Instruments Law when settling payments with suppliers. Instead the company has created its own proprietary supply chain finance system called the “D-chain,” through which
RSS