Taiwan says disappointed Trans-Pacific trade pact not considering its membership

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TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s government expressed disappointment on Friday that members of a Trans-Pacific trade pact had not set up a working group to consider its membership, saying there should not be political considerations.

Taiwan in 2021 formally applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), less than a week after China said it too had submitted an application. The group currently has 11 members – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam – and Britain will formally join next month.

Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said that a meeting of members in Vancouver this week had agreed to set up a working group to consider Costa Rica’s entry, but not one for Taiwan. Costa Rica said on Thursday it had been invited to join the group.

“Our government expresses its deep disappointment and once again calls on CPTPP members to set up a working group on our membership at an early date without political considerations,” the Taiwanese office said in a statement.

The Canadian government, the host of the meeting, did not respond to a request for comment outside business hours in Canada.

There has also been no working group set up so far to consider China’s application.

Taiwan has few international trade agreements due to its diplomatic isolation because of pressure from China, which views the democratically governed island as its own territory.

However both Taiwan and China, which has opposed Taiwan’s CPTPP application, are members of the World Trade Organization.

Taiwan says China has no right to speak for it or represent it on the world stage and that it has a right to engage with other countries and international bodies.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Jeanny Kao; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)