Taiwan’s top envoy to the United States said Monday that she looked forward to more results from a second meeting with the U.S. expected in next year under a new trade initiative between the two countries, which Taipei hopes will result in the two sides signing a trade agreement.
Speaking to Taiwanese journalists at a gathering hosted by her office in Washington, D.C., Hsiao Bi-khim (???) said that after the first round of negotiations under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade was held a few weeks ago, she hopes progress will be made as soon as possible following further negotiations.
Taiwan and the U.S. launched the trade initiative on June 1 and reached a consensus during a meeting on Aug. 18 on the negotiating mandate for the initiative.
The negotiating mandate outlines 11 trade areas to be addressed under the initiative, including trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, corruption, SMEs, agriculture, standards, digital trade, labor, environment, state-owned enterprises, and nonmarket policies and practices.
The two sides held the first round of negotiations under the trade initiative in early November in New York, with the aim of working toward a trade agreement.
Taiwan’s Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (???) said in late November that he had a dialogue with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference (APEC) summit in Thailand that month, regarding arranging a second meeting with the U.S. under the trade initiative.
According to Deng, both sides agreed to achieve results as soon as possible from trade talks, with Taiwan setting a goal of signing several “interim agreements” by the end of the year.
However, interim agreements have yet to be reached and according to Hsiao, details of the proposed second meeting, such as the time and negotiation format, are still under discussion.
Hsiao emphasized that Washington attaches great importance to the negotiations of this initiative, adding that she hopes to achieve early results.
She was also asked about the ongoing visit to Beijing by top U.S. diplomat for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink, and National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Laura Rosenberger, to prepare for a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken early next year.
Hsiao said Washington has made many statements recently, both on its own and with international allies and partners, on the goal of maintaining regional peace and stability.
She said she believed that Washington’s stance (on Taiwan) will remain consistent.
Hsiao also said she expects Blinken to continue to pay attention to regional peace and stability during his upcoming visit in China, as this is a critical issue to countries in the region and to China’s own national interests.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel