TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Mar26/29)
26 March 2026
Third World Network

WTO: Chinese Taipei boycotts MC14 in Yaounde
Published in SUNS #10407 dated 26 March 2026

Yaounde, 25 Mar (D. Ravi Kanth) — Chinese Taipei, under the World Trade Organization nomenclature, is reportedly boycotting the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon on grounds that it is being labelled as a province of China.

Cameroon identified the delegation as “Taiwan, Province of China” in official documents, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chinese Taipei.

That designation was inconsistent with its status in the World Trade Organization, the ministry said.

Cameroon’s move “seriously undermines Taiwan’s equal participation rights as a WTO member,” the ministry added.

This is perhaps the first time that Chinese Taipei – formally referred to in the WTO as the “Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei)” – has boycotted a ministerial meeting since joining the WTO alongside China in December 2001 at the WTO’s fourth ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar. +