TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Monday (July 10) that Motegi Toshimitsu, secretary general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), told him that Taiwan should give up on its bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

“(Toshimitsu) told me ‘I am telling you sincerely that Taiwan has no way of participating in the CPTPP,’” Ko said, adding that the LDP leader told him that Taiwan should give up. Ko said he was told that due to the need for all 11 countries in the CPTPP to agree to admit a new member, Taiwan’s application would not succeed, per FTV.

Ko told reporters that the comments were made in the evening during an LDP social function. He reportedly said he felt real diplomacy in Japan began after 10 p.m. when “the wine bottle does the talking.”

However, Taiwan’s envoy to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said on Facebook on Tuesday that he was responsible for organizing Ko’s June trip to Japan, and Ko did not have an official meeting with Toshimitsu during that time. “If it is a private or drunken conversation between friends, no matter whether it is a minister or a high-level party official, it is not appropriate to publicly quote them for promotion during elections,” Hsieh said.

“In the past, a presidential candidate visited Japan and made up a meeting with former Prime Minister Abe (Shinzo). This became a big joke, but it also hurt Taiwan’s image,” Hsieh said.

In 2006, former Taiwan president and then-candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) claimed that he had met Abe when he was on a visit to Taiwan, but he had actually met with his staff. Abe declined to meet Ma due to a lack of time.

In September 2021, Taiwan submitted a request to join the CPTPP, one week after China submitted its own application.

Despite Taiwan’s non-recognition as a state by all 11 CPTPP members, the wording of the agreement does allow “separate customs territories” to join, which would allow Taiwan’s participation in the same as it does with the World Trade Organization. However, a successful application to join the CPTPP requires existing member states to build a consensus on any application to join.

It remains unclear if China will be able to influence Taiwan’s application, though New Zealand, which chairs the CPTPP commission, has hinted it is likely to support China’s application, as has Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. Meanwhile, Australia and Japan have highlighted multiple issues concerning China’s application.

The CPTPP is a trade agreement with 11 signatory states and entered into force in 2018 after it was ratified by six of them. The remaining five states have since ratified the agreement, and the most recent country to do so was Brunei in July.