Taiwan ramps up pressure with pitch on trade

Australia is being urged to back Taiwan’s entry into one of the world’s biggest trading blocs.

Taiwan is pushing to join the 11-­nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Picture: Getty Images

Australia is being urged to back Taiwan’s entry into one of the world’s biggest trading blocs after its President lobbied a bipartisan group of federal MPs during a meeting in Taipei.

During the first meeting by an Australian delegation to Taiwan since 2019, Tsai Ing-wen ramped up Taiwan’s bid to join the 11-­nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership by expressing the country’s demands directly to Australian politicians.

Beijing warned this week that the visit to Taiwan would undermine efforts to repair Australian-China ties, accusing the delegation of spreading “plague and pestilence” and declaring Australia is “playing with fire”.

The group was made up of former deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, two Labor members of the Albanese government, Meryl Swanson and Libby Coker, Liberal National Party members Scott Buchholz and Terry Young, and Liberal MP Gavin Pearce.

Taiwan’s push comes after ­Anthony Albanese was forced to clarify remarks after he signalled Australia was unlikely to back its entry into the CPTPP on the sidelines of an APEC summit in Bali because it was not recognised as a nation state.

Senior government officials later said Australia’s policy on Taiwan’s entry into the trading block remained unchanged but the government had not declared a position on the matter.

Speaking after the official meeting from Taiwan on Thursday, Mr Joyce said Ms Ing-wen raised the CPTPP during her opening remarks and reiterated Taiwan’s bid for membership.

Mr Joyce said the Australian delegation was “very conscious of not going off script” and that Australia’s position had not changed, affirming its commitment to the One China policy.

Ms Ing-wen told the Australians that Taiwan expected its relationship with China to move to a more dynastic one, with power centralised around President Xi Jinping. “She said they see powers becoming more centralised around President Xi, and it would be more of a case of ‘if you are asked to listen you will listen’,” Mr Joyce said.

Enhanced trading between Taiwan and Australia was a key focus of the meeting, with Ms Ing-wen showing a keen interest in Australia’s agricultural exports. Taiwan has been pushing to re-open free-trade talks with Australia, pitching itself as a more reliable place for Australian exports than China amid ongoing sanctions on wine, grain, coal and beef.

Mr Joyce said the delegation did not explicitly discuss a free-trade agreement but agreed there was a potential for a “symbiotic ­relationship” between the two countries. “The interest in trade was very important,” Mr Joyce said. “The kinds of things that came up for me was the genuineness of the Taiwanese to make things and the opportunities for Australia to partner with them in some way.

“Taiwan has a population a little smaller than Australia but it’s half the size of Tasmania, and it has a GDP approaching that of Australia. Their GDP resides ­between their ears and their ­capacity to do something in a smart way. And we have massive resources, whether its minerals, agriculture, there is a chance of a symbiotic relationship. They were very interested in agriculture, as Taiwan is only 20 to 30 per cent self-sufficient in food. Australia has to realise the diplomatic effect we can have because of our impact on producing food for other people’s needs.”

The Australian and Taiwanese officials also discussed collaboration in renewable energy, with Ms Coker expressing the government’s interest in developing a domestic manufacturing sector for renewables.