Taiwan will never be allowed into the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement until it removes restrictions on the import of US beef and pork, a conference on US-Taiwan relations was told on Friday.
“It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of agricultural issues, especially beef and pork, to [US] Congressional House and Senate attitudes about the TPP,” analyst Chris Nelson said.
A former Congress staff member with decades of experience on US-Taiwan issues, Nelson said that until the US agricultural community had signed off on the TPP, “it ain’t going to happen.”
If the agricultural community does not get what it wants from Taiwan on the beef and pork issues, he said, Taiwan would not gain entrance to the TPP.
“If Taiwan wants to get into TPP and it is still screwing around on beef and pork, it is not going to meet the basic qualification and be taken seriously,” Nelson said.
Asked if a solution to the beef and pork issue was a prerequisite to gaining US support for Taiwanese entry to the TPP in a second round of negotiations that could start later this year, former Congressional Research Service specialist in Asian security affairs Shirley Kan said: “The fact that you even have to ask this question just astonishes me.”
“This is serious,” she said. “Are you in denial?”
“We have heard all the arguments and excuses from Taiwan,” she said. “How they can’t do a thing, because elections are coming up. Well, there are no elections this year in Taiwan. Let’s not waste this year. If people are serious, this is the window of opportunity. Whether you use it or not is up to you.”
She said that Taiwan had a lot of work to do to restore trust as a reliable economic partner that relied on scientific and international standards.
“Taiwan has to — by itself, today — remove the remaining obstacles concerning beef and pork,” she said.
Kan said that, if this was not done, people might look back in years to come and say that Taipei had committed a strategic blunder.
“Will Taiwan let this opportunity go?” she asked.
Kan said that it was ironic that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) could not forge a domestic political consensus for the benefit of the country.
“Where is the leadership in the KMT and the DPP?” she asked.
Taiwan is struggling to gain US support for membership in the TPP, which could be of enormous benefit to Taiwan’s economy.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
RSS