TAIWAN: Pledge To Maintain Ambitious Negotiating Schedule After Trade Talks

MNI London: The office of the United State Trade Representative has released a statement following the completion of four-days of trade talks with Taiwanese officials in Taipei, Taiwan.

• The statement: "Officials also reached consensus in a number of areas and pledged to maintain an ambitious negotiating schedule in the months ahead to continue this momentum."
• Nikkei Asia reports that the talks are part of a broader push by the Taiwanese administration of Tsai Ing-wen to lay the groundwork for a free-trade agreement between Taiwan and the US writing that negotiations, "will set the tone for a final push to strengthen Taiwan's security by making it an indispensable trade partner of developed democracies."
• Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in August that China, “is always against any country negotiating economic and trade agreements of sovereign implication or official nature with China’s Taiwan region.”
• China's state affiliated Global Times described the talks as "a political show" which is unlikely to "yield substantial results."
• The Biden administration notably chose to exclude Taiwan from it's flagship Asia Pacific trade initiative, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, when it was launched in April last year.