The UK’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is an opportunity for Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, adding that the government would submit its application to join the trade partnership at “the most favorable time.”
“CPTPP is one of the most important free trade areas in the world and UK accession could see CPTPP’s proportion of global GDP rise to 16%,” British Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss wrote in a letter of intent published on Monday.
“I believe UK membership would send a powerful signal about the importance placed on free trade by this dynamic group of countries at this critical time in our history,” the letter read.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The CPTPP is made up of 11 nations — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam — which represent about 13.5 percent of the global economy.
Asked yesterday if Taiwan had made any progress in its bid to join the partnership, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Secretary-General Kuo Chung-shi (郭仲熙) said at the ministry in Taipei that the government is still conducting “informal consultations” with the 11 members.
Kuo said that the nation’s ban on food imports from five Japanese prefectures is an important trade issue and that the nation would need to overcome the “trade barrier” before it could advance consultations with the CPTPP.
The government is glad to see that the CPTPP has activated its mechanism for the UK to become a new member, which spells an opportunity for Taiwan to also apply to join the bloc, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
All of the CPTPP nations fully understand Taiwan’s intention, determination and preparations to join the partnership, and they are “positive” about Taiwan’s bid, Ou said.
The government would formally submit its request to join the CPTPP at the most favorable time and under the most favorable conditions, she said.
Issues pertinent to membership of the CPTPP are being managed by the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations, Ou added.
Former US president Donald Trump in 2017 withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the previous version of the CPTPP.
The signing of the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in November last year increased Beijing’s economic leverage in the Asia-Pacific region.
US President Joe Biden has said that the CPTPP would need to be renegotiated for the US to join, but his administration is currently focused on boosting the domestic economy, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS