Taiwan’s application to join a massive multilateral trade deal is expected to be discussed by the bloc’s commission this week, five months after it was submitted. The commission overseeing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will reportedly discuss the island’s membership application along with submissions from mainland China and Ecuador. Taiwan applied to join the CPTPP on September 22, six days after Beijing did so and amid concerns that the island could be blocked from the deal. Beijing considers the self-ruled island its territory that must be taken in control, by force if necessary and opposes Taiwan’s application, saying it is part of China. Citing unnamed government sources, the Taipei-based Liberty Times reported on Monday that the commission was expected to hold an online meeting on Thursday to discuss the three applications. Asked to confirm the report, Taiwan’s top trade negotiator John Deng neither denied nor acknowledged the schedule, saying the island did not have the remit to discuss such a meeting. “What we should do is to prepare ourselves as much as we can to increase our chances of joining the CPTPP,” Deng said. He said the CPTPP was known for its high standards including rules on labour rights, intellectual property, investment, financial services and the environment. Applicants must lift a range of barriers to be granted membership, he added. “The conditional removal of a ban on Fukushima food imports by the government last week proves that we are willing to meet those standards in trade, and this could help increase our chances of joining the CPTPP,” Deng said. The island’s Cabinet announced last week that it was easing a decade-old ban on food products from Fukushima and four other Japanese prefectures – Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi – affected by the 2011 nuclear disaster. The decision came after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe had a phone conversation at the end of last month, during which Abe was reported to have said the biggest obstacle to Taiwan joining the CPTPP could be eliminated by lifting the ban. Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang confirmed on Thursday that Tsai and Abe discussed Japan’s food safety control measures, Taiwan’s entry into the CPTPP, and other topics. They also expressed hope that Taiwan and Japan could continue to deepen their cooperation in various areas, he said. So far, the CPTPP has attracted 11 signatories: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The economies have a combined US$13.5 trillion in gross domestic product, or about 13.4 per cent of the global total, making the CPTPP one of the world’s largest free-trade areas by GDP. To comply with the bloc’s high standards, Taiwan’s legislature has reviewed more than a dozen draft amendments relating to Taiwan’s CPTPP membership bid. According to Cheng Yun-peng, a legislator of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the party’s caucus head, the legislature has already approved amendments to remove trade obstacles from nine bills, and revisions to the Patent Act, Copyright Act, Trademark Act and the Digital Communication Services Act were in the pipeline. Taiwan lifts Fukushima food ban as it looks to Japan for trade pact support Observers said Japan’s support for a potential member was important given its leadership of the bloc. “Japan definitely has strong influence on whether Taiwan could join the CPTPP,” said Roy Lee Chun, a senior trade expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, a Taipei-based economics think tank. He said the island’s accession could be eased if Japan supported the idea of having CPTPP members first conduct bilateral talks with Taiwan before dealing with political issues. Liu Da-nien, director of the institution’s Regional Development Study Centre, said it would be difficult for Taiwan to skirt Beijing’s political opposition. “When Taiwan applied for membership, Beijing already opposed it,” he said, adding due to the stand-off between Taiwan and the mainland, Beijing was certain to try to stop Taipei from joining the bloc. He said the mainland had economic influence over a number of CPTPP signatories – none of which were official allies of the island, which would make it difficult for Taiwan. Beijing’s envoys in the 11 members of the CPTPP have underlined the opposition by writing to their host countries. Taiwan asks Australia to support its bid to join CPTPP trade pact An Australian parliamentary committee confirmed in a report on Thursday that it received correspondence from the Chinese embassy in October saying Taiwan’s bid was not a simple economic and trade issue but a highly sensitive political matter. It said the embassy conveyed China’s hope that Australia would oppose the island’s bid. But in its report on expanding CPTPP membership, the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, defence and Trade said the Australian government, along with other CPTPP members, should facilitate Taiwan’s accession. It also suggested that the Australian government consider negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement with Taiwan.
