Member states of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) have welcomed Taiwan’s application to join the trade pact, New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor said yesterday.
O’Connor made the remark at news conference after a ministerial meeting at an APEC forum a day earlier.
Asked whether New Zealand supports Taiwan’s inclusion in the CPTPP, O’Connor said that the members have “always been open to ascension by applicants.”
The bloc welcomed membership applications from Taiwan, the UK and China, he said.
It would be up to “the applicant economies to reach the standards that we have set and that we believe work well for us,” he said.
The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said that any economy seeking CPTPP ascension must ensure “the commitments they make on access for goods, services, investment, government procurement and temporary entry for business persons meet the high standards agreed by existing CPTPP members.”
“New Zealand has all along been a supporter of growing CPTPP through accession by those economies willing to meet the agreement’s high standards,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said via e-mail, replying to a request for comment by the Central News Agency.
“The CPTPP group as a whole, through the CPTPP Commission, [will] decide whether to commence accession processes with Chinese Taipei,” the spokesperson said, referring to Taiwan.
Taiwan in September formally applied to join the trade bloc under the name “the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu” through its representative in New Zealand, who sent the application to the foreign ministry.
New Zealand acts as a depositary for the trade pact and is responsible for passing applications to all member states.
The CPTPP was signed in March 2018 by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, and took effect at the end of that year, following ratification by more than half of the 11 signatories.
Any new entry requires the unanimous support of all members.
REPORT: Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining loitering munitions matching the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 or the Anduril Altius-600, ‘Foreign Policy’ said Taiwan is seeking US-made kamikaze drones in an apparent concession to pressure from Washington to focus on asymmetric capabilities to defeat or deter a Chinese attack, Foreign Policy said in a report on Wednesday. Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions or other devices with similar capabilities, it said, citing four sources familiar with the matter commenting on condition of anonymity. The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed for attacking ground troops, while its larger sibling, the Switchblade 600, could be used to destroy tanks and entrenched troops. Ukraine has utilized both systems extensively in its fight against
Police officers yesterday morning apprehended the prime suspect of a triple homicide case, after raiding the suspect’s hideout in Taichung. They transported the suspect to New Taipei City for questioning and recorded his statement last night. The suspect, identified as a 24-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), is believed to have used his hands to strangle his wife, surnamed Chen (陳), 29, along with his three-year-old son from a previous marriage and his wife’s mother, 69. The three dead bodies were wrapped in blankets when they were discovered inside their apartment in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) on Saturday. Chang was holding a
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight