SOUTH CHINA SEA:Over the past few days, Chinese warships closely shadowed a new, high-tech US Navy vessel that was patrolling the Spratly Islands

Taipei Times
Date: May 17, 2015
By: William Lowther  /  Staff reporter in Washington

US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce is urging US President Barack Obama’s administration to include Taiwan in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.

“I will continue to press the administration to make sure Taiwan is seriously considered for inclusion in this important trade agreement,” Royce said on Friday.

At a committee hearing the day before on advancing US economic interests in Asia, Royce questioned two senior US Department of State officials on the issue.

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Danny Russel said that both sides were working hard on a US-Taiwan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement and were looking closely at a Bilateral Investment Agreement.     [FULL  STORY]