TOKYO ( Associated Press) – President Joe Biden is expected on Monday to come out with a list of countries that will join the long-awaited Indo-Pacific trade deal, but Taiwan will not be among them.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed that Taiwan is not among the governments signed up for the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, an agreement that allows the US to work more closely with major Asian economies on issues such as supply chains. allows for. Digital business, clean energy and anti-corruption. The US president is slated to highlight the launch of the framework when he meets with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday.
The inclusion of the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own, would have upset Beijing.
“We want to deepen our economic partnership with Taiwan, including on high technology issues including semiconductor supply,” Sullivan said. “But we are pursuing it on a bilateral basis in the first place.”
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The outline is meant to set out Biden’s economic strategy for the region. Matthew Goodman, senior vice president of economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, suggested that some Pacific signatories would be disappointed because the agreement is not expected to include provisions for greater access to the US market.
“I think a lot of partners are going to look at that list and say: That’s a good list of issues. I’m glad to be on it,” said former International Economics Council at the National Security Council during President Barack Obama’s administration. Director Goodman said. “But, you know, are we going to get any tangible benefits from participating in this framework?”
Beijing has criticized the US effort in anticipation of the start of the deal.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, “We hope that they will form an open and inclusive circle of friends in the Asia-Pacific, rather than particular factions, and do more for peace and development rather than creating unrest and chaos in the region.” will do.” ,
Brian Dees, director of the White House National Economic Council, said the agreement “focused on issues that matter most to American families,” such as avoiding empty shelves in stores. “This framework will help us build more resilient early warnings for supply chains,” he told Nation World News’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “We can solve those kinds of issues.”
