Leer en Español
The United States and Taiwan announced Wednesday the start of negotiations to conclude a bilateral trade and investment pact in the fall, at a time of great tension between the United States and China over the island’s sovereignty.
In a statement, the Office of Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the start of the negotiations, following up on the 21st Century Trade initiative announced by both countries on June 1.
The negotiations will include trade facilitation, promoting good regulatory practices, setting strong anti-corruption standards, improving trade between small and medium-sized enterprises, deepening agricultural work, and eliminating discriminatory barriers to trade.
Digital trade, labor, and environmental standards, and possible ways to address market-distorting practices by state-owned enterprises and practices and policies that are unresponsive to markets will also be discussed, in a veiled reference to China.
The Chinese military conducted military maneuvers in the air and sea space surrounding Taiwan on Monday in response to the visit of five U.S. congressmen to the island, which came 12 days after that of Speaker Pelosi.
The exercises consisted of a joint multiservice combat readiness patrol and an actual combat drill in the sea and airspace around the island of Taiwan, whose sovereignty Beijing claims.
Taiwan described China’s military presence in the said areas as a “blockade,” and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called China’s “deliberately high military threat” “irresponsible”.
