Taiwan says China trade deal will help overcome economic isolation and speed Asia integration

NEW YORK – NEW YORK (AP) — Taiwan's information minister says a trade agreement with China signed two weeks ago is a giant step forward in overcoming the country's economic isolation, building trade, and speeding the integration of Asia.

Johnny Chi-Chen Chiang said the government now plans to hold talks with Taiwan's other trading partners in a push to become more integrated into the global economy.

He told a luncheon Tuesday sponsored by the Carnegie Council and the Overseas Press Club of America that trade is Taiwan's lifeline "so we cannot allow ourselves to become economically marginalized."

The threat of military conflict has lingered since Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, but in recent years, the tensions have eased under the policy of rapprochement taken by Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou. The trade deal slashes tariffs on a wide range of products and pushes the economies closer together, further easing political hostilities across the Taiwan Strait.