Some Taiwanese politicians and groups also voiced their criticism of the deal for different reasons.

Veteran U.S. trade and procurement lawyer Jean Heilman Grier has reported that there has been a resolution to the disagreement over the appointment of a government official from Taiwan as the Chair of the WTO's Committee of Government Procurement.

MOFCOM spokesperson expressed "firm opposition" against both.

USTR announced today that the United States and Taiwan "have concluded negotiations on the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade," and released the full text of an agreement.

At a press conference, China's Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, announced that China had eased restrictions on Australian timber imports, and also discussed China's CPTPP entry and concerns about Chinese surveillance.

Without providing further details, top trade officials in the United States and Taiwan both put a positive spin on the ongoing trade negotiations that were launched last summer. A Taiwanese official indicated that the trade talks are at the tail-end of the first phase of negotiations.

China's Ministry of Commerce announced today that it will start a trade barrier investigation against Taiwan's long-standing import bans on over 2,000 items from China. This is the third trade barrier investigation that China has launched in its history, and the first case in the last decade. Taiwan's government