Taiwan and Canada yesterday signed a bilateral investment deal, boosting the government’s efforts to bolster business ties with like-minded democratic partners and possibly easing the nation’s entry into a major pan-Pacific trade pact.
Taiwan has been seeking greater diplomatic and moral support from major Western democracies, such as Canada, as it faces growing military and political pressure from China to give in to Beijing’s sovereignty claims over the nation. As part of that, Taiwan has been seeking more trade deals with Western countries.
The Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Arrangement is part of Canada’s plan to increase trade and influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Photo courtesy of the Office of Trade Negotiations
The Office of Trade Negotiations said the deal, on which the two sides completed talks in October, was a milestone of “great historical significance.”
“In the future, the Taiwan-Canada investment agreement will further strengthen supply chain links and resilience, highlighting the importance of our country in the global supply chain,” the office cited Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) as saying at the signing ceremony.
Canada was represented by its top diplomat in Taiwan, Canadian Trade Office in Taipei Executive Director Jim Nickel, the office added.
The Canadian Trade Office in Taipei said it was a “great day” for Canada and Taiwan.
“This Arrangement will inject more predictability into business dealings between Canada and Taiwan, and contribute to the mutual prosperity of our two economies,” it said on its Facebook page.
The government said it hopes the agreement would help with its bid to join a major pan-Pacific free trade pact, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Canada holds the rotating chair of the CPTPP next year, a grouping China has also applied to join.
The Office of Trade Negotiations said the content of the investment agreement incorporates high standards on things such as environmental protection and governance goals.
“This will help drive CPTPP countries to recognise that we meet high standard trade norms,” it added.
Taiwan has been lobbying CPTPP members such as Canada to back its application, saying that unlike Beijing, Taipei supports transparency and the rule of law in its own economy and in doing business with other countries.
China and Canada have sour relations.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
RSS