Taiwan still has a long way to go before it can gain entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, a senior US official said this week.
“There is a lot more that can and should be done,” US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Daniel Russel said. “My message to Taiwan regarding TPP is this: Keep up the good work.”
Russel was answering questions at the Foreign Press Center in Washington after US President Barack Obama’s summit with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
Asked about US concerns over Taiwan’s plans to seek second-round entry into the TPP, Russel said the nation had already completed a “significant amount” of reform and made progress on the economy and difficult trade issues.
“On the very positive side, we are proud to host a growing span of investment from Taiwan, and we are pleased that Taiwan companies see so much value in operating in and investing in the United States,” Russel said.
He said that the trade relationship was growing and that barriers were coming down.
“These are all good things,” he said.
Russel said now that first-round TPP negotiations had been completed, details of the trade agreement were becoming fully known.
He said these details could be used as a template for countries like Taiwan “to make progress in their internal reforms by way of liberalizing, by way of making improvements, whether it’s with regard to environment or labor.”
“There’s a lot that major economies throughout the Asia Pacific region, including Taiwan, can do to move into the direction of what would be necessary ultimately to be accepted by all 12 TPP members as a new negotiating partner when the TPP countries ultimately ratify the agreement and then turn to the next step,” he added.
While he did not mention the timeline involved, Politico magazine on Thursday said that TPP might not be taken up by the US Congress until after next year’s presidential election in the US.
The magazine quoted senior congressional staffer Mike Sommers as saying that Congress was unlikely to move on the massive trade package until a lame-duck session more than a year from now.
“White House officials, and pro-free-trade groups and companies had hoped Congress would take up the measure by next summer, although that timetable now looks to be in jeopardy,” Politico said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
‘POOP ON STAGE’: The song, which talks about the reluctance to graduate and anxiety about a lack of job opportunities, resonated with many students’ feelings The original song Poop on Stage has been chosen as National Taiwan University’s (NTU) graduation song this year, sparking much debate regarding the song’s title and content, which describes students’ anxiety about post-graduation unemployment. The title, Shang Tai Da Bian (上台大便), is a play on words that literally means “go on stage to poop.” The first three characters, shang tai da (上台大), also mean “to attend NTU,” as “Taida” is a common abbreviation for the university. The last character, bian (便), can mean “convenient” or “then,” but is more commonly associated with defecation. The lyrics of the song describe students’ reluctance to graduate and
RSS