CPTPP set to discuss Taiwan membership late next year
Taiwan News - 15 December 2023
CPTPP set to discuss Taiwan membership late next year
By Matthew Strong
Joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) might not be possible until after the third quarter of 2024, a prominent academic said Friday (Dec. 15).
That was because the CPTPP’s Executive Committee had scheduled its next meeting where it could decide to set up a committee to consider new members during the third quarter, said Liu Da-nien (劉大年), director of the Regional Development Study Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER).
According to Liu, a decision depended on support from the United States, a lack of interference by China, and a willingness by Taiwan to open up its economy, per CNA. He also pointed out that the process to have the United Kingdom join the trade group took more than two years from application to approval.
Liu said that Taiwan would have to remove more barriers to imports from China and reduce limits on overall foreign investment in sectors like education, healthcare, and telecom. An extra complication is that China applied to join CPTPP just days before Taiwan in September 2021, presenting an extra problem if Beijing chooses to interfere with Taipei’s bid.
