Given all the strategic and security implications, joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement would be “immensely advantageous” for Taiwan, a new study said.
“It is imperative for Taiwan to knit itself into the economic and commercial fabric of the Asia- Pacific,” a National Bureau of Asian Research study said.
The study concludes that being a bystander at a time of accelerating regional integration would inevitably reduce the nation’s competitiveness and marginalize its role.
Written by trade expert Kevin Nealer and energy specialist Margaux Fimbres, the study said that TPP membership would make Taiwan more competitive, create trade diversification and reduce economic dependence on China.
It gives the incoming administration of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) four pieces of advice for undertaking the reforms needed to gain TPP entry.
First, work on the services sector where success would be most easily achieved before tackling more difficult reforms in agriculture and investor-state dispute settlement.
Second, do not consider the TPP as competition with China but rather consider membership on its own merits.
Third, engage in bilateral discussions with the 12 TPP nations — especially Japan — before launching a drive to enter the partnership in a second round of negotiations for potential new members.
Fourth, continue to pursue closer economic cooperation with the US through the trade and investment agreement framework.
“The TPP will require Taiwan to undertake comprehensive reforms that may prove politically difficult, raising the core question of whether the government can persuade a wary population to support a regional trade agreement that many see as leading to more job losses and a decline in economic opportunity,” the study said.
“The high standards of the TPP would leave little room for protectionism and inefficient trade policies. Concessions on tariff and non-tariff barriers would be daunting for Taiwan, given that joining the TPP would have implications for intellectual property, labor rights, investment and the environment,” the study said.
However, the alternative is simply unacceptable to the nation’s regional position and global competitiveness, the study said.
A major challenge might come in the form of opposition from China and other Asian nations might refuse to pursue economic ties with the island at the risk of offending Beijing, the study said.
Nevertheless, the nation has an opportunity now to take the necessary steps toward TPP membership, the study said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe