Taiwan's push to join a major Pacific trade pact remains stuck mainly because of pressure from China, which is bad news for Taiwan's trade ambitions but reflects a political problem rather than an economic one.

• Taiwan applied to join the CPTPP trade pact back in 2021 and still hasn't reached the working-group stage, even though newer applicants like the UAE, the Philippines, and Indonesia have moved further ahead.
• Taiwan's foreign minister says Taiwan meets the group's entry standards, but some member countries privately admit China's political pressure is the real reason progress is blocked.
• China itself doesn't meet the pact's standards but still opposes Taiwan's entry, which members quietly find hard to challenge openly.
• Taiwan is lobbying for reforms like a permanent administrative office and parallel (rather than one-at-a-time) review of applicants, which could help it move forward alongside other candidates.
• Recent trade progress with the US and Japan is being used by Taiwan to argue it's an even stronger fit for the pact's standards.

Outlook: Taiwan will keep pushing through diplomatic channels for a review-process change and support from member states, but a breakthrough depends on reducing China's influence over the group's consensus-based decisions.