Commentary More than two decades ago, I ran an import business of home appliances in Taiwan. It was in the midst of the Taiwan Economic Miracle Era when it was named one of Four Asian Tiger nations. I came to Australia with my family and continued managing my import business. From my experiences in Australia,…

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told TV Tokyo in an interview on Nov. 15 that the United States will not join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) but will instead seek to form a separate, potentially “even more robust” economic framework. Raimondo told the outlet that while the CPTPP pact “is not something that…

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told TV Tokyo in an interview on Nov. 15 that the United States will not join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) but will instead seek to form a separate, potentially “even more robust” economic framework. Raimondo told the outlet that while the CPTPP pact “is not something that…

Australia has ratified one of the biggest trade deals spanning the Asia-Pacific region, but has maintained “grave concerns” over the political situation in Burma, also known as Myanmar. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) includes 15 signatories, covering 2.2 billion people, and 29 percent of global GDP. The 15 countries include ASEAN nations, Burma, Vietnam,…

Britain’s main opposition Labour party has called on the government to veto China’s bid to join a trans-Pacific trade agreement once the UK itself is admitted to the pact. The UK applied on Feb. 1 to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a landmark 11-country trade deal that includes Australia, New…

We look at the biggest trade showdown in Asia. Both China and Taiwan want to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). China applied to join the partnership to be alongside free-market economies like Japan and Canada. But Taiwan applied days later to compete with China. I ask economist and author Clyde Prestowitz…

Commentary The story of trade in our world is an ongoing fable of successes and failures, even as the setups to facilitate it are usually invariably designed to bring happily prosperous outcomes. Like all fables, there are lessons to be learned. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) began as an expansion of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership…

The two authorities across the Taiwan Straits applied to join a trans-Pacific trade agreement. The Beijing side tried to obstruct Taiwan’s application, while Taipei defended its right to be included in the regional pact. On Sept. 22, the Chinese regime sent 24 warplanes to Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which was understood as a…

Commentary To join or be excluded from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has suddenly become the major question for both Beijing and Taipei. Initially proposed by the U.S. Obama administration, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was meant to be a highly sophisticated, up-to-date free trade agreement that, in addition to the United…

Beijing officially applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). However, experts said the possibility of getting approved was quite low due to high entry standards and China’s unfair market practices. On Sept. 16, China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao, submitted a written application for CPTPP membership to Damien O’Connor, Minister for Trade and…