Premier Chang San-cheng says that support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will depend on regulatory reform. Chang was speaking at the legislature on Friday.
Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Chen Ming-wen asked Chang whether the government feels a sense of urgency about Taiwan’s TPP bid as time to prepare runs out. Chang said that the Cabinet is aware of the urgency of its work to secure Taiwan a place in the TPP. He said that the foreign ministry is continuing work with the TPP’s founding members.
Chen also asked how sure the government is that each of the TPP’s twelve founding members will support Taiwan’s entry into the TPP. Taiwan will need to win the unanimous consent of all these founding members in order to join. Chen suggested that the US, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, and Vietnam would back Taiwan’s bid.
Chang said that support will depend on Taiwan’s own efforts to reform its regulations. He also said that support from the US is not guaranteed, as trade issues like the ban on imports of US pork containing ractopamine continue unresolved.
Chang said the Cabinet has made significant progress reviewing Taiwan’s regulations, but said that US and Japanese demands will have to be left for the new government to deal with once it takes office.