Taipei ( AsiaNews
/ Agencies) - The government of Taiwan has signed a free trade agreement with
Singapore , paving the way for liberalization of an economic relationship that
is worth about $ 30 billion a year. The
agreement also marks a turning point from the diplomatic point of view , since
it is the first time that the island - considered a " renegade province
" by mainland China that needs to be reabsorbed by the motherland - has
signed an agreement with an Asian government. According to some analysts it is
a sign of the "continuous thaw" in relations between Taipei and
Beijing.
The
economic partnership agreement was signed in Singapore a few months after the
agreement signed between Taiwan and New Zealand . Foreign
Minister David Lin said: "The signing strengthens Taiwanese liberalization
and internationalization, and helps us on the road to entering international
trade bodies [from which is still excluded due to China's obstruction ed] .
"
According
to the text, Singapore will immediately remove all customs duties on products
originating in Taiwan, for its part , the island is committed to removing the
tax on 83% of the Singaporeans products. The
rest will be liberalized over a period of time ranging from 5 to 15 years. A
group of 40 agricultural products - rice and pineapple - is excluded from the
agreement.
From
the diplomatic point of view , Singapore recognizes China as the "
legitimate government " and has no official relations with the Republic of
China, Taiwan's official name . Since
2010, however, a series of conciliatory gestures have brought the two sides of
the Taiwan Strait closer together - in conflict since the end of civil war
between the Nationalists and the Communists and the birth of the People's
Republic of China in 1949 - to the point that Beijing and Taipei have signed a epochal
socio- cultural- economic trade agreement. At
the moment 40% of Taiwan 's total trade is destined for China , but the figure
is still growing.