OTTAWA (ANTARA) — Canada and Taiwan agreed on Tuesday (7/2) to begin formal negotiations towards an agreement to encourage bilateral foreign investment and deepen their Indo-Pacific partnership in talks likely to annoy China.

Taiwan has sought greater diplomatic and moral support from major Western democracies, such as Canada, as it faces growing military and political pressure from China to give in to Beijing's sovereignty claims over the island. As part of this, Taiwan has sought to conclude more trade agreements with Western countries.

In a phone call with Taiwan's top trade negotiator John Deng on Tuesday (7/2), Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng discussed collaboration between Taipei and Ottawa to secure new investment opportunities in order to support sustainable growth and guarantee good jobs on both sides.

Talks of so-called “foreign investment enhancement and protection arrangements” are in line with Ottawa's plans to increase trade and influence in the fast-growing Indo-Pacific region.

In a statement, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry called it “positive progress” and said Taipei would strive to conclude negotiations as quickly as possible.

Late last year, Ottawa announced a much-anticipated Indo-Pacific strategy that included spending C$2.3 billion to improve military security and cybersecurity to deal with what it called a “Intrusive” China.

Beijing considers Taiwan its own territory and has poor relations with Canada. Taiwan strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims.

Taiwan, like China, has applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Taiwan has been pressuring existing members, like Canada, to support its call, saying that unlike Beijing, Taipei supports transparency and the rule of law while running its own economy and doing business with others. 'other countries.

Trade between Canada and Taiwan reached 10.2 billion Canadian dollars in 2021, compared to 7.4 billion Canadian dollars in 2020, according to official figures.

Tensions between China and Canada came to a head in late 2018 when Canadian police arrested a Huawei Technologies executive, followed by the arrest of two Canadians in China on espionage charges. All three were released in 2021 but relations remain strained.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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