Trade engagement with other countries is not subject to China’s approval, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday after Beijing reportedly issued a warning to the UK over talks it conducted with Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), Taiwan’s top trade official.
In a report on Monday, US-based news organization Politico said in its European edition that Deng had met with his counterparts in London in the middle of last month to discuss bilateral trade and to learn from the UK’s experience in applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Following the meeting, Beijing issued a warning to London, reiterating its stance that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territory, Politico reported.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) yesterday confirmed that Deng had met with British “economic and trade officials” during a visit to the UK last month.
Their discussions covered topics that included “the CPTPP and bilateral trade relations,” Ou said, adding that the ministry was pleased to see the two states enhancing their friendly relations, and their economic and trade ties.
Regarding China’s reported warning to the UK, Ou said that only the popularly elected government of Taiwan can represent its people in the international community and engage in trade talks with other entities.
Taiwan has never been part of the PRC, and neither side of the Taiwan Strait is subordinate to the other, Ou said.
“The PRC, therefore, has no right to interfere in Taiwan’s foreign relations,” she said.
The CPTPP, which grew out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership after the US left that pact in January 2017, is one of the world’s biggest trade blocs, representing a market of 500 million people and accounting for 13.5 percent of global trade.
Its 11 signatories are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Taiwan on Sept. 22 last year applied to join the CPTPP — less than an a week after China submitted its application.
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