Ruling party presidential candidate Eric Chu has arrived in the United States on a week-long visit. Chu, who is chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT), arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon, local time.
About a hundred supporters were at the airport to create Chu when he arrived. Later at his hotel he met with two US members of Congress: Ed Royce, who is the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Judy Chu, who is the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress.
Later at a press conference, Chu thanked the US Congress for supporting Taiwan’s bid to join international organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Interpol. He also expressed Taiwan’s determination to join the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
“Taiwan is very interested in joining the second round of TPP negotiations," said Chu. "This is very important for Taiwan’s future economic development. And a very important step towards that is TIFA (Trade and Investment Framework Agreement) talks, which we are currently involved in.”
Taiwan and the United States recently opened trade talks using the TIFA as a framework.