Taiwan has been put on equal footing with the US regarding potential trade cooperation by the second round of negotiations under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) said on Tuesday.
Taiwan had previously responded passively regarding trade deals with the US, but the latest four-day round of negotiations, which ended on Tuesday, put the two countries on an equal footing, Deng told a post-meeting news conference in Taipei.
Citing Section 301 of the US’ Trade Act, Deng said that Taiwan had “passed the phase” during which it could be subjected to trade retaliation from the US, which would greatly increase the scope of cooperation.
Photo: CNA
After the meeting, the Office of Trade Negotiations said that top officials from both sides were “satisfied about the negotiation and the results.”
It expects the two sides within a few weeks to sign an early harvest agreement on trade facilitation, anti-corruption, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), good regulatory practices and domestic regulation of services.
The agreement would provide guidance on efforts in those fields, Deng said, adding that hopefully the work would bring greater stability and administrative transparency, and businesses would have a more open channel to voice their opinions.
Deng also expressed hope that effort would be made to improve communication channels between the two sides, and that a dialogue mechanism would be established to discuss the formulation of rules for SMEs and the service industry.
The agreement would establish a permanent communication mechanism between SMEs on both sides, institutionalizing and increasing the frequency of exchanges, Deputy Trade Representative Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮) said.
Meanwhile, good regulatory practices could be achieved by encouraging greater public participation in policymaking to create a fair environment in which to conduct business and decrease legal compliance costs, which would send a positive message to prospective investors and the international community about doing business in Taiwan, Yang said.
Efforts to achieve this aim would also help bring Taiwan’s rules and regulations more in line with international trends, she said.
Domestic regulation of services stems from good regulatory practice, she said, adding that the government would need to familiarize businesses seeking to expand into the US market with the rules to obtain operating licenses, which would be consistent with its goal of helping Taiwanese businesses internationalize.
Joint efforts would see the two countries jointly establish a paradigm to counter corruption and help remove obstacles stemming from corruption that hamper the overseas operations of Taiwanese businesses, she said.
Objectives laid out during the talks largely conformed to Taiwan’s anti-corruption policy, so the nation would not be significantly burdened by the changes, she added.
The two sides are to finalize at upcoming negotiations details measures to deny safe haven for foreign public servants charged with corruption, Yang said.
The US Trade Representative said in a separate statement that both sides “reached consensus in a number of areas and pledged to maintain an ambitious negotiating schedule in the months ahead to continue this momentum.”
The initiative was launched in June last year in the wake of Taiwan’s exclusion from the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). The first round of physical talks was held in New York on Nov. 8 and 9.
Before the talks, Taiwanese officials said that the nation’s goal is to complete negotiations before the APEC annual meeting slated for later this year.
Roy Lee (李淳), senior deputy executive director at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that topics covered during negotiations are also discussed in free-trade agreements and the results achieved through such talks would be conducive to signing deals with other countries.
Prior to the negotiations with the US, Taiwan had waited more than 20 years for such an opportunity, Lee said.
With the US “vouching” for Taiwan’s readiness to adopt high standards to facilitate trade and good regulatory practices, it would also aid Taiwan’s bid to join the Japan-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, he said.
Similarly, it could help equip Taiwan with the credentials to participate in the IPEF, even only as an observer, he added.
As a short-term goal, the government could contemplate how to make the merits of the early harvest agreement clear to the business sector by elaborating on the details once they are made public, Lee said.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS