ABSTRACT
Trade policy making involves a delicate balance of economic, political and security considerations that often trump purely economic motivations. This remains true despite a world increasingly regulated by globalized economic standards institutionalized in international and regional regimes that presumably provide the forum and/or framework under which economic conflicts and gains are resolved and sustained. In this context, global efforts to institutionalize economic integration with multilateral, regional and bilateral arrangements have counterintuitively led to the intensified economic isolation of Taiwan, the country that is the focus of this chapter.
