Taiwanese business tycoon Morris Chang is set to use an APEC leaders’ summit scheduled for Friday night to make the case for Taiwan’s inclusion in the CPTPP trade bloc.
Chang is the founder of Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC. He is set to represent Taiwan at the meeting, since political considerations mean that Taiwan’s presidents are never able to attend APEC events.
Taiwan applied to join the CPTPP trade bloc in September. Since membership in APEC and the CPTPPP largely overlaps, Friday’s APEC meeting will provide a good opportunity for Taiwan to drum up support for its CPTPP bid.
Chang reportedly plans to make two arguments in favor of Taiwan’s admission to the CPTPP. One is the relatively high amount of trade it does. The other is the fact that Taiwan is close to meeting the CPTPP’s high standards.
In addition to tasking Chang with building support for Taiwan’s CPTPP bid, President Tsai Ing-wen has also asked him to urge faster and more equitable access to COVID vaccines worldwide and the use of digital tools to create a more resilient medical system.