China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on Friday that Taiwan's trade restrictions on Chinese products constitute trade barriers following a months-long investigation. The Cabinet’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) responded the same day, saying that China's investigation violated World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and the findings did not align with the facts.
MOFCOM’s investigation concluded just under a month before its scheduled completion date of January 12, which is the day before Taiwan’s presidential election.
Spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) said on Friday that authorities from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) violated relevant provisions of the bilateral Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). Zhu says that the TAO supports moves by China’s relevant authorities to take appropriate measures in response to the findings.
In its statement, OTN says that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are members of the WTO, and related trade issues should be handled in accordance with the WTO’s mechanisms and relevant regulations. It adds that if China is sincere, both sides can initiate consultations at any time through WTO mechanisms to resolve trade disputes.
Secretary-General to the President, Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), responded during a forum hosted by Taiwan Thinktank. He says that China's timing, just weeks before Taiwan's presidential election, is an attempt at election interference. Lin adds that Taiwan still hopes to resolve the trade dispute through the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism.
