Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday said that no member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has expressed opposition to Taiwan applying to join the trade bloc.
“So far, we have not met any one country [that is a CPTPP member] that has openly or privately expressed their objection to Taiwan’s bid,” Wu told lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
The government had been in talks with all 11 CPTPP members about Taiwan’s possible membership, Wu said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Asked on Friday if Australia supported Taiwan joining the bloc, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the CPTPP was “a relationship between nation states that are recognized.”
Speaking at the APEC summit in Bangkok, Albanese described Taiwan as an “economy,” inferred by some to mean that Taiwan did not qualify to join the CPTPP.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that this interpretation is at odds with the CPTPP’s charter, which states that “any State or separate customs territory may accede to this Agreement.”
On Saturday, Albanese offered a slightly modified response, stating that applications would be “dealt with on consensus for economies applying to join the CPTPP” and judged based on their individual merits.
At yesterday’s legislative meeting, Wu said the Australian government had made it clear to Taipei that it welcomed “all economic entities” that meet the CPTPP’s high standards to join the bloc.
Wu said that following Albanese comments on Friday, the ministry had reached out to an “authoritative Australian government branch,” which made the clarification.
The ministry did not reveal the source of the clarification, and the Australian government has not issued a statement to that effect.
The CPTPP — which grew out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership abandoned by the US 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.
For a new member to join the CPTPP, all 11 signatories — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam — must approve the application.
Taiwan applied on Sept. 22 last year to join the CPTPP, less than one week after China submitted its application.
Asked when Taiwan might join the trade bloc, Wu told lawmakers that the CPTPP is focusing on reviewing the UK’s bid and is unlikely to deal with Taiwan’s application any time soon.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
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,
RSS