Time.news – China reiterated its opposition to “any agreement of a sovereign and official nature” between countries with which it has established diplomatic relations and Taiwan, following the submission of the request for membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPPP) from the island over which Beijing claims sovereignty. This was announced by the Taiwan Affairs Office of China, after criticizing the EU in recent days for the report on the Indo-Pacific, in which Brussels cited the intention to deepen trade and investment relations with the ‘Island.
Taiwan yesterday presented its candidacy to enter the free trade agreement, a few days after the submission of China’s candidacy. Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen reiterated: “We are ready to accept all the rules and to join “the CPTPP, he wrote in a Twitter message asking for Tokyo’s support for the island’s bid. The application for membership” reflects our commitment to promote free trade in Asia-Pacific, “he added. Tsai in another message: “I am sure”, she concluded, “that our adherence to this agreement would strengthen common economic development and benefit the peoples of the region and the world”.
Taipei: “We risk exclusion”
“China has hindered Taiwan’s international presence. If she is admitted to CPPTP before we do, there will certainly be a risk for Taiwan’s accession to the trade bloc. This is a fairly obvious fact,” he said at a press conference today. Taipei chief negotiator, John Deng, picked up by local media.
Taiwan’s application for membership “It’s mainly for our interests”, the Taipei official continued, “for the interests of our companies and for long-term economic planning purposes, and it has nothing to do with the goals of other countries or with China’s comments” on our request.
The exit of the USA
Cptpp (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership) is the free trade agreement between eleven countries, so renamedor after the exit of the United States by the Trans-Pacific Partnership (Tpp) under the administration led by Donald Trump. The countries that are part of it are New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, and since last June the negotiations for the access of Great Britain have begun.
The Rcep
The TPP, born during the Barack Obama era in the White House, was the largest trade alliance in the world until last year, when it was overtaken in size by the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) which brings together the ten economies of Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) plus Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, excluding the US.
The CEP will come into effect when six Southeast Asian nations and three of the other five ratify the agreement. Born with the aim of containing China, the TPP, which later became CPTPP, has higher standards than those of the RCP in terms of environmental protection and labor law and provides for a wider removal of tariffs. So far eight CPPP countries have ratified the agreement – all except Brunei, Chile and Malaysia – with Peru joining the list last week.
.