China and Taiwan Join WTO
China and Taiwan both joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) after a vote by the members of the organization at its conference in Qatar. The WTO held the voting on the two countries’ prospective membership a day apart to avoid antagonizing either Taiwan, which considers itself an independent country, or China, which considers Taiwan to be a renegade province. Each country will now go through a 30-day accession process that includes the ratification of an agreement to reduce trade barriers on specific products.
