Taiwan to continue to seek support for CPTPP bid despite hold-up

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) Taiwan will continue to solicit support from member countries to join a regional trade bloc even though the group decided last week not to initiate Taiwan's accession process, a diplomat in charge of the membership bid said Tuesday.

Lien Yu-ping (連玉蘋), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Department of International Cooperation and Economic Affairs, said it was regrettable that members of the bloc, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), did not reach agreement on the issue at a summit in Vancouver last week.

At the summit, CPTPP members were unable to decide on allowing a working group to be formed that would have advanced Taiwan's application.

Lien said Taiwan's international participation has always faced pressure and therefore needed greater effort due to "geopolitical reality," hinting that the China factor stood in the way given the fact that Beijing sees Taipei as part of its territory.

But Taiwan will not give up and will continue its efforts since it applied to join the trade bloc on Sept. 22, 2021 to convince all CPTPP members that it has met the high standards required to be part of the bloc, Lien said.

She made the remarks during a weekly MOFA news briefing in response to the CPTPP's decision on Nov. 28 (Vancouver time) to launch an accession process for Costa Rica, which applied to join the bloc in August 2022, a year later than Taiwan.

Asked about the status of Taiwan and China, both of which applied prior to Costa Rica, Canada Trade Minister Mary Ng said during the Nov. 28 press event that the CPTPP members "remain completely open to having new members join."

Asked if CPTPP members' upholding "One-China" policies is preventing Taiwan from joining, Ng did not elaborate, saying only that she could only speak on behalf of Canada, reiterating that Canada's One-China policy remained unchanged.

"The work we do together as CPTPP partners is … on consensus," in order to advance any application, she said.

China applied for the CPTPP membership about a week earlier than Taiwan did. Its application was also put on hold. 

Politico reported last week before the annual summit in Canada that Taiwan met the trade standards required to join but that CPTPP members could not reach a consensus on Taiwan's application, citing unnamed officials from CPTPP member nations.

The report also noted that Taiwan's bid had been held up "because of the politics with China."

Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory, has opposed Taiwan's accession to the CPTPP. This has led Taiwanese officials to worry that a successful bid by China could sink Taiwan's hopes of joining the bloc.

Lien said at Tuesday's press briefing that the CPTPP's latest decision to focus on Costa Rica first rather than Taiwan or China still had a silver lining -- that China's bid was not considered before Taiwan's because it applied for membership earlier.

"The CPTPP's latest decision to not form a working group to deal with accession applications based on the first-come-first-serve principle is also the result of years-long efforts made by Taiwan," Lien said.

Taiwan has been trying to persuade CPTPP members to focus on whether or not an aspirant meets the "the Auckland principles," she said.

She was referring to the requirements set by the CPTPP for new members, which include meeting the trade pact's high standards, demonstrating a strong track record of meeting trade obligations, and garnering a consensus among all members.

Lien said Taiwan believes China is not qualified to join the CPTPP based on those principles, given its history of using economic coercion against countries with which it disagrees with.

The official acknowledged that it could take another year before next year's summit is held for the CPTPP to consider Taiwan's application given that the bloc usually makes all of its major decisions during such occasions.

She insisted, however, that Taiwan will continue to do its best to convince all CPTPP members that it belongs in the trade bloc since the accession is based on consensus.

The CPTPP is one of the biggest trade blocs in the world, representing around 15 percent of the global economy.

It currently has 11 members -- Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam -- with the United Kingdom set to become the 12th member later this month.

Canada is the chair of the CPTPP Commission in 2024, and Australia will take over the role next year.