Taiwan is Eager to Join Indo-Pacific Economic Framework”

On June 7, Taiwan’s top trade negotiator called on the United States not to forget that Taiwan wants a free trade deal, but understands this will not happen immediately, and is willing to make other agreements first as building blocks. Taiwan has long fought for a trade deal, which would be a strong endorsement of Taiwan in the face of diplomatic and military pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Taiwan and the United States share common democratic values and are reliable partners.

Taiwan’s top trade negotiator, John Deng, who goes to Washington at the end of the month for talks with senior U.S. officials, told the press in an interview that ultimately what they wanted was a free trade agreement, even if the U.S. Government has put all such negotiations on ice.

“This is our hope, and we must make this goal clear and let more people know that this is the Taiwan’s goal we want,” he said in his office near the Presidential Office in central Taipei.

Taiwan is “very realistic” and knows this is not achievable in the short term, Deng added.

While Taiwan has strong bipartisan support in Congress and the Senate, the Biden administration last month excluded Taipei from the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or IPEF.

Deng said IPEF would be “more complete” if Taiwan was allowed in. Biden angered the CCP last month when he said the U.S. would get involved militarily if CCP invaded Taiwan, seemingly breaking with long-held ambiguous policy towards Taiwan.