China would consider joining a free-trade pact once championed by the US, but abandoned by US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said on Friday, as Beijing increasingly seeks to influence the global rules of commerce.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is an updated version of a giant deal originally backed by former US president Barack Obama as an effort to counter China’s rising influence in Asia.
Trump pulled out of it after winning the presidency in 2016 as he turned away from what he viewed as unfavorable multilateral deals, but 11 countries eventually agreed to sign the new version.
Photo: Reuters
Addressing an APEC summit, Xi said the grouping “must continue to promote regional economic integration and establish an Asia-Pacific free-trade zone at an early date.”
China “will actively consider joining” the CPTPP, he said, according to Chinese state media.
Trump attended this year’s virtual summit, the first time he has participated since 2017, as he continues to challenge his election defeat to US president-elect Joe Biden.
Xi’s comments came just days after Beijing and 14 other countries signed what would be the world’s biggest trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Taiwan has expressed an interest in joining the CPTPP, as it would be unlikely to gain membership in the China-dominated Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Singapore-based international trade expert Deborah Elms said that if China did join the trade pact, it might encourage others to follow.
“If Xi’s statement of interest is pushed forward in the coming weeks and months, it will, of course, lead to a lot of questions from current members, prospective members and others that are not thinking of CPTPP membership at all,” said Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS