A legislative delegation led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) arrived in the UK yesterday to rally support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Chiang heads the Legislative Yuan’s Taiwan-UK Interparliamentary Amity Association. The delegation also includes KMT legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞), Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), Sandy Yu (游毓蘭) and Wu I-ding (吳怡玎).
The group is to meet with British lawmakers Alicia Kearns, who chairs the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the House Defence Select Committee; and Bob Stewart, who cochairs the House British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group, Chiang said.
Photo: AP
Kearns led a delegation of British lawmakers on a visit to Taiwan in December.
The return visit by the Taiwanese delegation indicates the deepening and normalizing of exchanges between lawmakers from the two countries, Chiang said.
The Taipei Representative Office in the UK would brief the delegation on the latest developments and joint projects between Taiwan and the UK, he said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The delegation would meet with British think tanks and business representatives to discuss security in the Taiwan Strait, as well as economy, trade and investment, Taiwan’s CPTPP bid and other issues, he said.
The group would meet with overseas Taiwanese and Chinese businesspeople in the UK to hear their views and suggestions on how to deepen relations with the UK, Chiang added.
As the UK was the first country to apply for CPTPP membership after the bloc’s establishment, Chiang said he hopes the trip would boost Taiwan’s bid to join it, he said.
Chiang thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its assistance in arranging the trip, adding that he would “actively strive for international recognition and support for the nation.”
The regional trade group, formed in 2018, includes Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. CPTPP admission requires the unanimous consent of its members for negotiations to begin.
Taiwan applied to join the CPTPP in September 2021, just days after China filed its application.
It applied under the name “the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.”
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