Taiwan’s de facto ambassador in Canberra is pleading with Australia to use its leadership of the trans-Pacific free trade pact to break an impasse over its application to join the agreements, which remains in limbo because members are loath to provoke a confrontation with China.
The Central American nation of Costa Rica – which had a population of just 5.2 million people and gross domestic product of $US86.5 billion ($138 billion) in 2023 – has been plucked from obscurity to have its membership bid for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership considered.
