Washington/ Taipei/ Beijing – On Thursday, the US signed the first bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan. US officials expressed confidence that the agreement, being part of the ‘US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade’, would further strengthen economic and trade ties between the two countries. There has been a strong reaction from China. China will not tolerate any country with political relations with China and cooperating at the official level with Taiwan, which is a part of China; the Chinese Foreign Office has given such a warning.
In June last year, the US and Taiwan announced the ‘US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade’. A few days later, discussions between the trade representatives of the two countries also began. Due to its rapid start of activities in this matter in the United States, China responded aggressively. China had also threatened that it would affect US-China relations if it tried to have official relations with Taiwan.
But even after that, the representatives of the United States and Taiwan continued to discuss trade issues. Some US delegations also visited Taiwan. Against this background, signing a trade deal before the end of the year is significant. This agreement includes reforms in the rules of customs and provisions related to trade. This agreement has also made some facilities available to facilitate dealings between small and medium-sized enterprises between the US and Taiwan. This is the most important agreement signed with the United States in the last four decades; Taiwan has given such a response.
Furthermore, China’s foreign department has expressed strong objections to this agreement. Through this, the wrong message is being given to the forces working to liberate Taiwan; the spokesperson of China’s Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, made such an allegation. Ning also said that China has strong objections to any country having political relations with China holding discussions or agreements with Taiwan at an official level.
Meanwhile, along with the US, European countries are also reported to have started activities to enter into trade and investment agreements with Taiwan.
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