All the commercial fights between China and Taiwan
Taiwan has applied to join the CPTPP, the free trade agreement in the Pacific, but fears it will be hindered by China. Here's what happens and why
New tensions between China and Taiwan.
Taiwan's entry into the CPTPP, the free trade agreement between eleven countries in the Pacific region, will be in jeopardy if China is first admitted to the pact. This was stated by John Deng, the main Taiwanese commercial representative.
THE BACKGROUND
Taiwan filed a formal application to join the CPTPP on Wednesday; less than a week ago China – which does not consider Taiwan an independent state, but a province in its territory – had also applied.
WHAT TAIWAN SAID
Deng said China is "obstructing Taiwan's international presence": the country, for example, is excluded from the World Health Organization due to Chinese pressure. And therefore, according to Deng, "if China is admitted to the CPTPP before us, Taiwan's entry into the trading bloc will certainly be at risk".
"Taiwan's demand [responds] primarily to our interests, those of our companies and our long-term economic planning goals," he said, "and it has nothing to do with the goals of other countries."
THE JAPAN REACTION
Toshimitsu Motegi, the foreign minister of Japan, the main promoter of the CPTPP, welcomed Taiwan's request for entry. He said that the island – defined as "an extremely important partner" – "shares the fundamental values of freedom, democracy, basic human rights and respect for the law".
Earlier, referring to China's question, Motegi had said that it was necessary to check whether it was able to meet the high standards set by the treaty.
THE QUESTION OF THE NAME
In submitting its application to join the CPTPP, which it hopes will be approved as soon as possible, Taiwan has used the name of "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu", the same name used for entry into the World Organization of trade and to negotiate with other countries: Minister Deng defined it as less controversial than other securities (Chinese claims on Taiwan always have to do with it).
THE IMPORTANCE OF CPTPP FOR TAIWAN
For Taiwan, entry into the CPTPP would be of great political and economic importance. On the one hand, in fact, it would allow it to strengthen its image and its international presence (and in fact China is not happy with the move). On the other hand, it would allow it to enhance trade with a group of countries which, taken in their entirety, are worth 24 percent of its total trade.
As the Nikkei Asia writes, Taiwan also plays a crucial role in high-tech supply chains since the island is home to the headquarters of TSMC, the largest manufacturer of advanced microchips in the world.
THE QUESTION OF APPROVAL
To join the CPTPP, Taiwan will need to have the approval of all eleven members. His application for membership is expected to be supported by Japan and Australia but perhaps opposed by Malaysia, which is close to China.
Conversely, Chinese demand is likely to be rejected by Australia, Japan and Canada as China has trade and political tensions with all three. Mexico has also been skeptical about Beijing's ability to comply with the standards – on intellectual property, data flows, labor standards, the state's role in business – of the treaty.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/cina-taiwan-cptpp/ on Thu, 23 Sep 2021 12:50:40 +0000.