Taiwan’s chief trade negotiator, Minister Without Portfolio Jenni Yang (楊珍妮), on Thursday said that the nation would continue advancing a trade deal with the US under the incoming administration of US president-elect Donald Trump.
Taiwan remains optimistic about furthering the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, despite a pause in negotiations due to the transition to the new administration, Yang told reporters at the APEC summit in Lima.
Taiwan is preparing to review regulations before entering a new round of negotiations, which would cover issues including agriculture, labor and the environment, she said.
Photo: CNA
“These issues are inherently difficult to negotiate,” she said, adding that hopefully Trump’s administration would continue discussions on the second phase of talks following the signing of the first agreement by both sides in June last year.
The initial agreement, expected to take effect by the end of this year, includes customs administration and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, policies to combat corruption, and promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises.
However, concerns have arisen regarding Taiwan’s trade relationship with the US after Trump, whose rhetoric suggests opposition to global trade, won the US presidential election on Nov. 5.
Yang, who is part of Taiwan’s APEC delegation, met with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) on the sidelines of the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Wednesday.
A statement issued by Tai’s office said that both sides highlighted the importance of economic and trade ties during the meeting.
Yang and Tai also discussed progress made through the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, as well as their work together at the APEC forum and other multilateral organizations, including the WTO, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s envoy to APEC, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks in Lima on Thursday ahead of the bloc’s Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
Lin arrived in the Peruvian capital on Wednesday with the Taiwanese delegation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The two discussed ways to continue improving the bilateral partnership, and ensuring regional peace and stability, while exchanging views on issues such as promoting the development of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the region, the ministry said.
Blinken posted a photograph of the two shaking hands on social media and wrote that their talks touched upon “our growing economic relationship and our enduring shared commitment to foster an open, dynamic and peaceful Indo-Pacific.”
Lin — chairman of Taiwania Capital Management Corp (台杉投資管理), a government-funded venture capital firm, and a senior adviser to President William Lai (賴清德) — was to take part in the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting yesterday and today as Taiwan’s envoy, a role he has had before.
The meeting was expected to be attended by US President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, among other heads of government.
APEC is one of the few inter-governmental pacts in which Taiwan has full membership, but it still sends special envoys in place of its president to the annual event due to pressure from China.
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘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
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
RSS