Japan under mounting pressure to defend rules-based order
A container terminal at China's Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang Province. China applied to join the CPTPP on Sept. 16, and Taiwan followed with its own application on Sept. 22. © Reuters
TOMOHIRO EBUCHI and TAISEI HOYAMA, Nikkei staff writersSeptember 24, 2021 04:04 JST
A container terminal at China's Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang Province. China applied to join the CPTPP on Sept. 16, and Taiwan followed with its own application on Sept. 22. © Reuters
TOKYO/WASHINGTON -- Membership bids filed just days apart by Beijing and Taipei have turned the 11-nation CPTPP trade bloc into the latest flashpoint in the push to build a global, rules-based trade order.
Originally conceived to counter Beijing's growing economic clout in the Pacific Rim, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership has seen its members split in their response to the dueling bids. With the U.S. no longer part of the framework, Japan now faces a challenge in trying to keep the bloc unified over its founding principles on transparency and market access.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Japan "welcomes" Taiwan's bid during an online news conference delivered from the U.S. on Wednesday local time.
Taiwan is an extremely important partner with whom we share basic values like liberty, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, as well as a close economic relationship," he said.
"We will need to carefully assess whether Taiwan can fully meet the high standards" set by the CPTPP, Motegi said.
By contrast, China's application on Sept. 16 did not elicit such a warm reception from Motegi. He skipped the word "welcome," saying only that Beijing's ability to meet the pact's standards needed to be ascertained