Five lawmakers from Taiwan, Japan and the United States are voicing their support for Taiwan’s bid to join a US-led regional trade bloc, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The lawmakers are in Taipei to attend the Trilateral Security Dialogue forum, jointly held by think tanks from the three countries.
Taiwanese Lawmaker Johnny Chiang, of the ruling Kuomintang, said there are many reasons why Taiwan needs to join the TPP.
“[The TPP] is a strategy and a partnership, it’s not just about money and economic issues. It involves other strategic goals. It should be expanded to include non-economic issues in the region, and security issues that are related to the economy. I believe that it should also be seen as a ‘framework for building confidence’, and an important channel for dealing with security issues,” said Chiang.
Japanese Lawmaker Otsuka Taku said that Taiwan’s economic development should not rely too much on China. He said that Taiwan’s lack of economic independence is a problem that can be solved by joining the TPP.
Meanwhile, US Congressman Steve Stockman said that the United States has considered cutting its defense budget by US$1 trillion. He suggested that countries should form alliances in the event that the US cannot offer support.
Stockman said, “We saw Japan in the 30s and Germany in the 30s being very nationalistic. Now we see the rise of Russia being nationalistic and we also see the rise of China being nationalistic. And I think it is a great point that was pointed out, that the people that are involved in this region should get together and build some kind of coalition because if not, my fear is that United States would not be able to come to the call when necessary.”
In light of Stockman’s statement, Taiwanese lawmaker Hsiao Bi-khim of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party said that the United States is cutting down on its involvement in international affairs. But she said the US does not seem to be changing its “rebalance to Asia” policy.
Hsiao said Asia is still the core of global economic growth. She said Taiwan should be prepared to defend itself if the United States cannot offer support.