This study analyzes how a country faces intra- and extra-national changes in political economy in relation to the organization and power structure of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/ the World Trade Organization (WTO), and examines the causes of Taiwan''s entry into, withdrawal from, and reentry into GATT/WTO and consequences for the survival, development and the gain and loss of political and economic benefits.
All countries have a particular status in the international system of political economy, and consequently they have different standpoints. For example, GATT member countries use their political-economic status and power to influence GATT decisions to their own advantage. Accordingly, the GATT organization and its associated system of trade rules have a specific bias, whereby some issues can be readily brought to the agenda for negotiation, while other issues are rejected.
This study also analyzes the transition of Taiwan''s tariff and trade policy, the effect of GATT/WTO regulations on this policy, the political-economic causes of Taiwan''s re-entry into GATT/WTO, and the effect of mainland China on Taiwan''s entry into GATT/WTO. Mainland China used its political-economic superiority, right and gain-and-loss relationship to slow down Taiwan''s entry into the GATT/WTO. This interfered with the timing of Taiwan''s negotiations with other countries. The progress and appearance of China''s entry into the GATT/WTO influenced the schedule of Taiwan''s entry into the GATT/WTO. This was a bias that influenced Taiwan''s entry into the GATT/WTO.
During negotiations with other countries regarding Taiwan''s entry into the GATT/WTO, every country which looked for its national maximum benefit, asked Taiwan to promise to pay pre-period money before entry into the GATT/WTO, which had influenced Taiwan''s tariffs and trade policy. Taiwan joined the GATT/WTO as a developed country while Mainland China joined as a developing country. Even Singapore and Korea whose economic situation was not worse than Taiwan also joined the GATT/WTO as developing countries. Accordingly, entry into the GATT/WTO will impact the development of the political economy of Taiwan.
Finally, I predict possible effects on political economy, relationships between two-sides in Taiwan Strait and tariff and trade policy after Taiwan''s entry into the WTO.