Taiwan Excluded from the IPEF. KMT: The Tsai Government Knows only Bragging, not Action.

Taiwan is excluded from the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a regional cooperation mechanism announced by U.S. President Biden. The Deputy Director of KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee Szu-Kang Chang states that, during the referendum campaign last year, the Tsai government told people that importing pork contained ractopamine from the States was to make a way for Taiwan to join the IPEF and CPTPP. However, although Taiwan is excluded from both economic cooperation mechanisms, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) only expressed its lamentation and did nothing. MOFA even stated the U.S.’s disclosure of Taiwan’s exclusion one day before the IPEF was launched was a sign of America’s respect for Taiwan. Such a devaluation of its own diplomatic work not only harms Taiwan’s national interest but also proves once again that the Tsai government only knows how to brag, not how to act.

Chang also points out that what is really lamentable is the MOFA’s response to Taiwan’s exclusion from IPEF! The DPP government failed to exercise Taiwan’s advantages. The Deputy Minister of MOFA even said the U.S. government’s notification of the exclusion prior to the announcement was a sign of respect. These all show that the Taiwan-U.S. relations are at their best as the Tsai government brags about is just an illusion. The government doesn’t even think about how to develop the relationship with the U.S. substantively. Chang said, even Chih-Cheng Lo of their own DPP party couldn’t accept the Tsai government’s “absurd diplomacy”. He believes the Taiwanese people won’t support the Tsai government’s handling of diplomacy.

Taiwan’s semiconductor industry occupies a vital position in the global supply chain, said Chang. Nevertheless, amid the Russo-Ukrainian war, the intensifying geopolitical risk, and the competition between the U.S. and China, the Tsai government has failed to seize the chance to improve Taiwan’s relationship with the U.S. and failed to join several economic cooperation mechanisms. Taiwan still can’t regain its observer status at the WHA. Chang calls for the Tsai government to have a clear understanding of international affairs and to exercise Taiwan’s advantage elastically. Finally, he warns that it is not in people’s interest if the government uses diplomacy as a war of words and propaganda.