Taipei - Taiwan celebrated yesterday after being cleared to join the 142-member World Trade Organisation - one of the few major international organisations from which it is not barred - after 11 years of trying.
"This marks a milestone ... Taiwan will be able expand in international trade and closely link with the globe," the President, Mr Chen Shui-bian, said in a statement. "Taiwan will be on an equal footing with other WTO member states ... that will enable the island to move forward in step with the rest of the world."
Taiwan and its trading partners reached a formal deal on the island's accession to the WTO on Tuesday. According to a 1992 agreement Taiwan could finalise a deal to join the WTO only after China's agreement on accession. China reached a formal agreement on WTO membership on Monday.