Malaysia, Singapore not opposed to Taiwan's CPTPP accession: FM

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said Monday that he believed neither Singapore nor Malaysia had opposed Taiwan's bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) during a recent meeting in Canada.

Lin made the comments during a Legislative session reviewing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) 2025 budget proposal.

During an annual summit in Vancouver held late last month, CPTPP members failed to reach an agreement to initiate Taiwan or China's accession process.

Instead, CPTPP members decided to launch the process for Costa Rica, which applied to join the bloc in August 2022, a year after Taiwan and China.

China applied for the CPTPP membership about a week earlier than Taiwan.

Before the summit in Canada, American online news media Politico reported that Taiwan met the trade standards required to join but that CPTPP members could not reach a consensus on its application, citing unnamed officials from CPTPP member nations.

Regarding the trade pact, Taiwan's ascension "has not garnered consensus among certain members, notably Malaysia and Singapore," the Politico report quoted unnamed sources as saying.

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

Commenting on the Politico report during Monday's session, Lin told lawmakers that, unlike the news report, he understood that neither Singapore nor Malaysia had opposed Taiwan's CPTPP accession during the summit.

Singapore has been open to both sides of the Taiwan Strait joining but the extent of its support for either side "differs," the minister said, without elaborating.

Malaysia supports China's accession process but did not say during the Canada summit that it opposes Taiwan's participation, Lin added.

The minister did not disclose the source of his information.

Lin also said that the decision for CPTPP members to focus on Costa Rica first rather than Taiwan or China had a silver lining -- that China's bid was not considered before Taiwan's, meaning the bloc is not dealing with the bids on a first-come-first-serve principle.

"We did not score this time, but we have made progress," Lin said, without elaborating.

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.

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.