There is no legal impediment to a free-trade agreement between Taiwan and the US but Taipei "has a lot of work to do" before such an accord would be possible, US officials say.
The Bush administration has not taken an official position on Taiwan's interest in negotiating a free-trade zone but "we're willing to work with them to see what direction they want to take," a senior administration official said.
"If Taiwan eventually wants to get a free-trade zone with us, they have a lot of work to do," he added.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in April proposed a free-trade zone to counter China's growing economic influence in Asia.
There has also been talk of including Japan in the mix, although some US officials have said Japan's restricted agricultural market would be an obstacle.
However, "until we're confident that they are fully implementing their commitments under WTO to talk about a free-trade zone is frankly premature," one official said.
He cited intellectual property right protections and government procurement as areas on which Taipei must make progress.
A Chinese diplomat told reporters that Beijing does not oppose trade between Taiwan and other countries but believes these relations must be unofficial. A free-trade agreement can only be signed between two sovereign states, which Taiwan is not, he argued.
But Bush administration officials dispute that.
The Taiwan Relations Act "specifically says we're enjoined to conduct economic relations and commercial ties with the people of Taiwan," an official said.
Similarly, in the second of three communiques that undergirds Sino-American relations, China acknowledges a US intention to pursue economic relations with Taiwan, he said.
"So we've got all the [political] cover we need" to negotiate a free-trade zone with Taiwan, the official said.
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