Diplomacy

Analysis: Why Taiwan’s CPTPP Bid Has Stalled Again

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By Patrick Chen/Chris Gorin

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Taiwan's foreign ministry issued a strongly worded statement "deeply regretting" the failure of a large Pacific trade bloc to address the country's more than four-year old application to join. The Commission for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) identified four countries that met its criteria at its most recent meeting in Australia, but did not mention Taiwan. TaiwanPlus spoke to Roy Chun Lee, researcher at CIER and former Taiwan representative to the European Union, about how China keeps Taiwan out of such international agreements and whether shifting global supply chains are creating new incentives for countries to reconsider Taiwan’s accession.