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Fernandez praises
Taiwan as US’ ‘invaluable’ partner
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporter
The US sees its future “inextricably” linked to the Asia-Pacific region and
Taiwan fits into the picture as an “invaluable partner” of the US, US Assistant
Secretary of State Jose Fernandez said in Taipei yesterday.
“Our strong economic relationship covers more than six decades. Taiwan has been
an invaluable partner in influencing others to embrace reform and strive for
economic growth,” Fernandez said in an address to the American Chamber of
Commerce in Taipei.
As the first high-level US official to visit Taipei since the legislature voted
to allow imports of US beef containing the livestock leanness-enhancing drug
ractopamine, Fernandez praised the move and encouraged Taiwan to continue to
proceed with “real liberalization.”
During his 25-minute speech that put US-Taiwan economic relations in the larger
Asian context, Fernandez did not unequivocally state the US’ stance on Taiwan’s
bid for the US-led emerging Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — unlike the way the
US quickly threw its support for Japan, Mexico and Canada, which joined the
talks with the nine TPP members after they expressed their interests in the
economic bloc last year.
However, Fernandez did encourage Taiwan to make the case for TPP membership, a
goal President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has said he hoped to achieve in eight years.
“We commend President Ma for recognizing the importance of trade integration and
for his expressed determination to push forward liberalization measures that
would help Taiwan make its case as a possible candidate for future trade
agreements,” Fernandez said.
He called on Taiwan’s leaders to implement meaningful market liberalization
measures and to pursue new trade agreements, saying firm resolve as well as
commitment to free market principles as a responsible WTO member are essential
attributes to live by.
“We will support Taiwan as it embraces these fundamental prerequisites to
effective and meaningful trade integration,” Fernandez said.
He said the recent steps taken by Taiwan to resolve the beef issue will be
important in “helping to rebuild confidence in the [US-Taiwan] bilateral trade
relationship,” adding that “more comprehensive economic liberalization will be
an essential component for securing Taiwan’s economic future.”
In recent years, the immensely valuable relationship between the US and Taiwan
has hit some bumps in the road that hindered our partnership and progress, he
said.
“One of these things that I really want to stress is that we got to find a way.
We cannot afford for these bumps to continue. We need to make sure that they do
not detract from efforts to make use of our full potential,” he said.
He also encouraged Taiwanese businesspeople to make investments in the US,
saying that under the program called SelectUSA, “we can provide some business
consulting and training that they need in order to comply with the regulations.”
“We can also direct [investors] to different states to make sure that potential
investors can connect to the right partners in their investment selection
process,” he said.
Fernandez’s three-day visit in Taipei, which wrapped up yesterday, was part of
an Asian tour that included stops in Hong Kong and Indonesia.
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