The ROC-U.S.-Japan Trilateral Security Dialogue concluded July 1 in Taipei City, highlighting the need for Taiwan to take part in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Regional Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Partnership.
“As a major regional economy, Taiwan’s entry to the TPP will substantially increase the value of the organization and expand the market reach of its members,” former Vice President Vincent C. Siew said in his opening remarks.
“With Taiwan widely considered the heart of Asia’s information technology industry, including the nation in the TPP will create an enabling environment for firms in the U.S. and Japan.”
In addition to Taiwan’s involvement in regional trade blocs, other issues discussed at the one-day event spanned security implications of such economic integration and its impact on production linkage in the Asia-Pacific, as well as regulatory harmonization under plurilateral trade agreements.
Other participants in the event included Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ting Joseph Shih, Minister without Portfolio Deng Chen-chung, Legislators Chiang Chi-chen and Hsiao Bi-khim, American Institute in Taiwan Director Christopher J. Marut, U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman and Japan Reps. Taku Otsuka and Keisuke Suzuki.
Also attending were more than 20 scholars from eight Asia-Pacific nations, including Australia, India, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.
According to the former vice president, economic cooperation among the three countries is a pillar of regional prosperity and stability. In particular, Taiwan’s expanded participation in regional integration will benefit the Asia-Pacific.
“The Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement [ECFA] signed in June 2010 is opening up the lucrative mainland Chinese market to Taiwan firms,” Siew said. “But in the absence of trade agreements with other partners, closer ties with Beijing pose a considerable political risk and make some people in Taiwan insecure and skeptical.
“While closer economic relations with mainland China serve the interests of our economy and our allies, such ties also destabilize some people’s confidence in our bondage with the U.S. and Japan.”
As part of efforts to secure Taiwan’s accession to the TPP, Siew said the government has formed an international economic task force to review outdated laws and regulations and initiate new waves of reform.
As of last September, more than 870 laws and regulations had been amended, with the government committed to further regulatory easing for greater trade liberalization, he added.
Established in 2011, the annual forum aims to enhance trilateral ties among Taiwan, the U.S. and Japan through cooperation and dialogue. It is organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with Taipei City-based Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, Washington-headquartered Center for Strategic and International Studies and Institute for International Policy Studies in Tokyo. (SFC-JSM)
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