The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) would continue working through multiple channels to solicit support from member countries this year to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a ministry official said yesterday.
Taiwan applied to join the trade bloc on Sept. 22, 2021, shortly after China’s application on Sept. 16. Both applications have been stalled.
Department of International Cooperation and Economic Affairs Director-General Vivian Lien (連玉蘋) said that joining the CPTPP remains a key policy objective of the government.
Photo: CNA
CPTPP ministers in Peru in May last year established an informal standing forum to facilitate information sharing to foster a fair and efficient process — in line with the “Auckland Principles” — for accessions to the group, Lien said.
The principles are a set of criteria to evaluate potential new members, which include readiness to meet the agreement’s high standards, a good track record of upholding trade obligations and consensus among existing members, she said.
A joint statement issued after a CPTPP Commission meeting in November last year reaffirmed the importance of the principles, while announcing the establishment of an Accession Working Group for Costa Rica, she said.
Lien said that the announcement was a positive sign, as Costa Rica applied for membership in 2022, indicating that the CPTPP was reviewing applicants based on the principles, rather than the order in which their applications were filed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs this year would continue its efforts to win support from CPTPP members, mainly through arranging face-to-face meetings between Taiwan and member countries’ officials, and bolstering industrial cooperation with member countries, such as in the fields of semiconductors, supply chains and hydrogen energy, she said.
It would also initiate a media campaign under the theme “Growth and Prosperity over Geopolitics: The CPTPP is Stronger with Taiwan,” to highlight that Taiwan’s ascension to the group is not a political issue and that Taiwan can have industrial, economic and trade cooperation with member countries, she said.
MOFA also aims to develop more local support through the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce and by enhancing connections with local business associations in member countries, she added.
In addition, Taiwan’s representative office in Australia has also commissioned the Australian series The Airport Economist to make a special episode about Taiwan, in which the show would speak with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and Taiwan’s industrial leaders about the nation’s economic and trade advantages, Lien said.
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) has also led Taiwanese solar energy and energy storage industry representatives to attend a Solar & Storage Live exhibition in Australia last month, she said.
The ministry also commissioned TAITRA to lead industrial cooperation teams to like-minded member countries, including Australia, Japan and the UK, in June, she said.
Regarding a comment by a US academic that China is showing renewed interest in joining the CPTPP amid a trade dispute with the US, Lien said that China must still meet the Auckland Principles, but its massive use of government subsidies and lack of transparency in state-owned enterprises’ operation shows it does not meet the CPTPP’s high standards.
Many academics have said that one of the reasons that China wants to join the CPTPP is to block Taiwan’s participation, she said.
However, the member countries would strictly review whether China meets the criteria of the Auckland Principles, she added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS