Taiwan's Application to GATT/WTO: Significance of Multilateralism for an Unrecognized State

(Hardback)

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Revealing a powerful economic motive behind Taiwan's 1990 application for GATT membership, Cho questions those who interpreted it solely as a political move designed to break that island nation's diplomatic isolation. Flourishing economically since the 1950s despite non-GATT membership, matters changed for Taiwan in the 1980s when it became both "big and small." As a big trader, its dual trade regime was no longer tolerated, while as a small economy with little political clout, Taiwan was pushed to liberalize its trade practices by bilateral pressures. Taiwan believes that the most-favored nation principle and diffuse reciprocity embedded in GATT/WTO's multilateralism will sheild Taiwan from the pernicious effects of bilateral asymmetry while simultaneously providing it with "more international living space."

Author Bio

CHO Hui-Wan is Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute of International Politics, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan./e