TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) meets to approve membership for the United Kingdom, Taiwan could be next, Japanese media reported Thursday (March 30).

Taipei applied to join the 11-member trade alliance in September 2021, less than a week after China. This caused concern the communist country might try to interfere and block Taiwan’s access.

The Japanese evening paper Yukan Fuji and its web edition Zakzak headlined “United Kingdom joins CPTPP, next Taiwan” above a report about President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) ongoing visit to the United States.

All 11 member nations need to agree on any application, but some opposition to Taiwan’s case might come from Southeast Asian nations regarded as friendly to China. Beijing was likely to step up pressure to keep Taiwan out even before it joined, per the Liberty Times.

Another unpredictable factor is the likelihood of the United States returning to the group, while other countries such as Uruguay have also applied to join. With the U.K. likely to become a CPTPP member later this year, attention would shift to Taiwan and how the current 11 member nations dealt with its application.

Earlier, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said Taiwan could reasonably expect to join within five years.