Decisions on Taiwan joining the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) should be made “regardless” of China, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) told a Washington conference on Wednesday.
Taiwan has done “so much, so well” over the past few years, but still finds itself in an increasingly difficult situation, he said at the conference on trans-Pacific trade.
“What we want is a level playing ground and fair competition for Taiwan,” Kuan said. “We don’t need any special assistance, just give us a level ground without any political deterrence and I believe you know what I am saying about deterrence.”
Others attending the event organized by the American Enterprise Institute expressed fears that Beijing might have the power to veto Taiwan’s entry into the TPP as a second-round member, or at least block its entry until China joins.
Opening the conference, former World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz said that TPP negotiations were bogged down in difficult US-Japan issues and other political issues in Washington.
He said he hoped that US President Barack Obama would work with the new Republican Party congressional leadership to pass “fast-track” authorization.
Wolfowitz said that fast-track authority would give “great impetus” to the TPP.
“Japan and others will be reluctant to move forward absent conviction that whatever is agreed to will be approved by the US Congress,” he said.
“Trade promotion authority is a crucial part of this complicated issue,” Wolfowitz said.
“Meanwhile, Taiwan is often overlooked in discussions of far reaching trade agreements,” he said. “This is a big mistake, not only from an economic and trade point of view, but also from the political point of view because it leads to a feeling in Taiwan of marginalization.”
This in turn had led to unwarranted objections to further progress in cross-strait relations, he said.
Saying that he personally approved of such progress, Wolfowitz said that it clearly caused anxiety among Taiwanese — “anxiety that gets exacerbated by the sense that Taiwan may be left out of the larger movement in the region.”
It was “particularly important” to consider Taiwan’s role in [the] TPP, he said.
Kuan said that Taiwan’s economy depended heavily on trade, but that it was not a member of any major trade networks.
Internal reforms on trade were underway and that they had been applauded by American, European and Japanese chambers of commerce in Taipei, he said, adding that Taiwan needed the TPP to avoid being marginalize and to prompt regulatory reform and market opening.
The TPP needs Taiwan to expand and strengthen its trade network and to facilitate further economic cooperation in the region, Kuan said.
Asia has gradually developed a “star” network in terms or trade and China was the dominant member, however, “this dominant member may serve as a risk absorber or a risk amplifier,” the minister said.
The Asian network was not balanced and it was crucial to reduce dependence on China, Kuan said, adding that if the current trend persists, the Asian network would lean more toward China and Taiwan would be “unavoidably locked in China’s economic circle.”
“This development is not in the strategic interests of many members of the region and also conflicts with the US policy of rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific,” he said.
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