This week, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) held its annual meeting in Vancouver, with a decision made to establish a working group for Costa Rica’s membership, while Taiwan’s membership application was put on hold due to lack of consensus. The Taiwan government expressed disappointment on Friday and urged against political considerations.
Costa Rica announced on Thursday that the country has been invited to join the CPTPP.
According to Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations under the Executive Yuan, during the 8th Ministerial meeting of the CPTPP member countries in Vancouver, Canada from November 25 to 28, it was decided to establish a working group for Costa Rica’s membership, with Peru as the chair and Canada and New Zealand as vice-chairs, to kickstart the membership process.
Canadian Minister of International Trade, Mary Ng, stated in a press conference after the CPTPP Executive Committee meeting on Thursday that Costa Rica was the first to meet the “Auckland Criteria,” leading to the establishment of a working group to further advance their application.
The “Auckland Criteria” consist of three elements: meeting the high standards of the agreement, having a good track record of adherence to trade norms and commitments, and obtaining consensus from existing CPTPP members.
Despite Taiwan and China submitting their membership applications before Costa Rica, no working groups have been set up for the two cases yet. Taiwan officially applied for CPTPP membership in September 2021, slightly after China submitted its application by less than a week.
When asked about the progress of Taiwan and China’s applications, Minister Mary Ng responded citing the “Auckland Criteria.”
In response to whether Taiwan’s membership application was “put on hold due to the ‘One China’ policy,” Minister Mary Ng emphasized the need for consensus from all member countries and stated that Canada’s position on the “One China” policy has not changed.
The Office of Trade Negotiations of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan issued a statement on Friday expressing deep disappointment with the decision of the CPTPP Executive Committee and reiterated the call for member countries to promptly establish a working group for Taiwan’s membership without any political considerations.
According to reports citing sources familiar with the discussions, representatives of CPTPP member countries avoided discussions on the membership applications of China and Taiwan during this week’s meeting in Canada, hoping to postpone decisions on the two applications to avoid the sticky political issues brought by Beijing’s “One China” policy.
A senior official participating in the CPTPP Executive Committee stated that while Taiwan meets the first two criteria of the “Auckland Criteria,” it has not fulfilled the third, which is “obtaining consensus,” and that “some member countries still need to be convinced.”
Vina Nadjibulla, Vice President of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, told Politico.eu that Taiwan and Costa Rica are two of the most well-prepared applicant countries that meet the high standards of the CPTPP, but Taiwan’s membership application “has been put on hold due to political relations with China.”
“The issue with Taiwan’s application is that it has not reached consensus among specific members, especially Malaysia and Singapore,” Nadjibulla mentioned. She also added that CPTPP member countries have decided not to handle membership applications on a “first-come, first-served” basis.
It is reported that Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia have openly expressed their support for China’s inclusion in the CPTPP. These three countries are aligned with Beijing and see China as their largest trade partner.
The current 11 member countries of CPTPP are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam. The United Kingdom will officially join in December, becoming the 12th CPTPP member.
【This article was translated from the official website of “Voice of America”】