Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday attended the first day of the two-day APEC Economic Leaders’ Summit in Bangkok, where he spoke with top leaders a day after holding dialogue with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Chang exchanged words with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and representatives of the APEC Business Advisory Council, while at lunch he spoke with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪).
He was also scheduled to meet with Thai King Vajiralongkorn and his spouse last night.
Photo: CNA
At a gala on Thursday night, Chang also spoke with Blinken and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, although Taiwanese officials at the summit would not disclose what was discussed.
The 91-year-old TSMC founder was tapped by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to attend the meeting on her behalf.
Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) told a news conference on Thursday that he conveyed to APEC members Taiwan’s desire to join more regionally integrated groups and its willingness to abide by the high standards of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Deng, Taiwan’s top trade negotiator, and National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) arrived in Thailand earlier this week to attend the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Thursday.
However, Deng acknowledged that there was not much progress on Taiwan’s CPTPP bid, because the pact’s members were still processing the UK’s accession.
The UK’s accession is “taking longer than expected” and might not be completed in the short term, he said.
Taiwan applied to join the CPTPP on Sept. 22 last year, less than a week after China submitted its application.
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.
Any new entry in the CPTPP requires the unanimous support of the bloc’s 11 signatories — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
A separate statement by the Office of Trade Negotiations said Deng told ministers at the meeting that Taiwan looked forward to negotiating digital economy agreements with like-minded partners in the Asia-Pacific region to pursue digital economy cooperation.
The statement said Deng also called for joint efforts among APEC economies to promote cybersecurity, saying that it was essential to the development of the digital economy.
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday dodged questions from Taiwanese media after suggesting that Canberra is unlikely to support Taiwan’s bid to join the CPTPP.
Speaking to reporters at the APEC meeting earlier in the day, Albanese said that the pact is “a relationship between nation-states which are recognized,” while Taiwan is only represented at APEC as an economy, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
The text of the agreement states that “any state or separate customs territory may accede to this agreement.”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement that Canberra had reached out to Taiwan to clarify that Australia’s position welcoming all economies that meet the high standards of the CPTPP — including Taiwan — has not changed.
Ou said the ministry welcomes Canberra’s reaffirmation of its consistent position on the matter.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan and Yang Cheng-yu
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