China remains the biggest challenge to the international trading system, the Office of the US Trade Representative said in its annual report to the US Congress on China’s WTO compliance released on Friday.
“It has been 22 years since China acceded to the WTO, and China still embraces a state-directed, nonmarket approach to the economy and trade, which runs counter to the norms and principles embodied by the WTO,” a release from the office quoted US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) as saying.
“Even more problematic, China’s approach targets industries for global market domination by Chinese companies using an array of constantly evolving nonmarket policies and practices,” Tai said.
Photo: Reuters
“This report details the breadth and scale of China’s nonmarket policies and practices and the serious harm that they cause to workers, businesses and industries in the United States and around the world,” she added. “It is a stark reminder that the members of the international trading system must continue to work together to defend our shared interests against these many harmful policies and practices, particularly in sectors targeted by China’s industrial plans.”
China’s “socialist market economy,” which it was pursuing when it joined the WTO in 2001, “has turned decidedly predatory,” the report says.
In related developments, Taiwan is to urge the WTO to more efficiently handle unfair subsidizing of nonmarket economies, and four other proposals at the WTO’s Ministerial Conference, which runs from tomorrow to Thursday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), who heads the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations, yesterday departed for the meeting alongside Representative to the WTO Lo Chang-fa (羅昌發).
The biennial meeting is the highest-ranking decisionmaking organ in the WTO and usually discusses the body’s policy to facilitate multilateral trading among WTO members.
Taiwan is to introduce proposals for the WTO to take action to ensure that existing measures to resolve trade disputes resume, implement more stringent regulations on countries that capture large volumes of fish to ensure the sustainable development of the industry, discourage countries from restricting exports to ensure food safety, and show other members that a free, open and accepting Taiwan presents greater opportunities for economic and financial collaboration, the Office of Trade Negotiations said.
Since Taiwan’s entry into the WTO in 2002, its foreign trade value has increased nearly 2.5-fold and become more closely integrated with the world economy, it said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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