The ROC (Taiwan) would like to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia and does not need permission from mainland China to do this, Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun affirmed in an interview for an October 17 report published in The Sydney Morning Herald—Australia's longest-running newspaper—and reprinted in The Age and The Australian Business Herald.
Taiwan has strong economic and trade ties with Australia and would like to make this robust relationship even closer by soon signing a bilateral FTA, Sun explained, adding that such a pact would advance the overall economic development of the region.
In the same report, a spokesman for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that "Australia has significant economic interests" with Taiwan. Additionally, Alan Oxley, chairman of the APEC Study Centre at RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology)University, said a Taiwan-Australia FTA would facilitate the creation of regional FTAs like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Sun also responded to the October 7 article "Beijing 'meddling' in Taiwan's FTA hopes" in The Australian. Although mainland China has enjoyed outstanding economic performance in recent years and is already a major trade partner of many nations, Taiwan is holding economic and trade talks with other countries and does not require the mainland's permission to do so, he said.
To read The Sydney Morning Herald's English-language report, "Taiwan confirms desire for free trade deal with Australia" by Chris Zappone, please visit the following webpage: http://www.smh.com.au/business/taiwan-confirms-desire-for-free-trade-deal-with-australia-20141017-117v3n.html