Premier Cho Jung-tai received British Office Taipei Representative Ruth Bradley-Jones April 14 in Taipei City and called on the U.K. to support Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
As a key player in the global supply chain, Taiwan is ready to contribute to the trade bloc’s economic and trade integration, the premier said. It is hoped that the U.K. will continue to support Taiwan’s CPTPP participation to safeguard global economic order and ensure freedom-based development and prosperity for all, he added.
According to Cho, trade relations between the two sides date back to the 19th century, when the U.K. established three consulates in Taiwan. British missionaries James Laidlaw Maxwell, Thomas Barclay and William Campbell also made valuable contributions to Taiwan’s democracy, education, public health and medical care, he added.
Cho said 2023’s bilateral Enhanced Trade Partnership marked the first time a European country formed an institutional economic and trade framework with Taiwan. He listed economic and energy security, digital and financial resilience, and technological and manufacturing innovation as areas with great potential for expanded cooperation, and expected the two-way ties to scale new heights under Bradley-Jones’ leadership.
The premier also thanked the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for its April 2 statement expressing concern over China’s military exercises around Taiwan.
In response, Bradly-Jones praised growing relations between the two strategic partners and expressed optimism for deepening the relationship based on the shared values of democracy and innovation. She said her country’s industrial strategy initiative and Taiwan’s Five Trusted Industry Sector project are complementary, and anticipated many more cooperative projects in the future. (SFC-E)
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