'បង្កើនតួនាទីរបស់អ្នក': ប្រទេសចិនបានព្យាយាមបំភាន់ការបោះឆ្នោត EU និងតៃវ៉ាន់

Chinese ambassador lobbied European Parliament president before lawmakers decided on non-binding report on Thursday
Report calls on European Commission to urgently begin preparation for a bilateral investment deal with the island

 

 

The European Parliament voted in a landslide on Thursday to adopt a report on Taiwan, despite a Chinese envoy’s efforts to influence the outcome.

The vote on whether to adopt the parliament’s first report on Taiwan ended 580-26 in favour.

The non-binding report urges the European Commission to “urgently begin” preparation for a bilateral investment deal with Taiwan.

It also recommends the name of the “European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan” be changed to the “European Union Office in Taiwan” to reflect “the broad scope of EU-Taiwanese ties” and for Taiwan to be granted observer status at international institutions including Interpol and the World Health Organization.

But in a letter dated August 31 and seen by the South China Morning Post, Chinese ambassador to the European Union Zhang Ming called on European Parliament President David Maria Sassoli to “leverage” his role to influence opinion.

“At this important moment, I hope that you can leverage your role to enable the European Parliament to fully appreciate the seriousness and sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and play a positive and constructive role in upholding the political foundation of China-EU relations,” the ambassador wrote.

“The issue of Taiwan concerns China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and involves China’s core interests as well as the sentiment of 1.4 billion Chinese people,” Zhang wrote, adding that there is “simply no room for compromise”.

He said the report was a “rather negative document” and warned that its recommendations would “constitute serious violations of the one-China principle as they exceed far beyond the scope of normal non-official economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges between the EU, its member states and Taiwan”.

While the EU maintains its one-China policy, it has in recent months made moves to expand trade and economic ties with Taiwan, without recognising full statehood.


Katalin Cseh, a Hungarian MEP who acted as shadow rapporteur on the report, said the letter was “another reminder that China’s blatant disregard for democracy and democratic processes is very much our concern”.

“Pressuring the elected president of the European Parliament is wholly unacceptable and clearly constitutes malign interference that we must not tolerate,” she said.

The report’s rapporteur Charlie Weimers said the commission “must now intensify EU-Taiwan relations and pursue a comprehensive enhanced partnership with Taiwan”.

“Work on an impact assessment, a public consultation and a scoping exercise on a bilateral investment agreement with the Taiwanese authorities in preparation for negotiations to deepen our economic ties must begin before the end of this year,” he said.

In response to the vote, the Chinese Mission to the EU urged “the EU side not to misjudge China’s firm resolve and strong will to defend our national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

“[We urge the EU to] faithfully honour its commitment to the one-China principle, correct its mistakes, remove disturbances, and create conditions for the sound and steady development of China-EU relations,” it said.

The vote passed at a tense time in cross-strait relations, and as Taiwan has become a prominent fixture in the European news agenda.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu will visit the Czech Republic and Slovakia next week, while a 66-person strong delegation of Taiwanese businesses and officials is already touring the two countries and Lithuania.

Lithuania, for its part, has pushed the envelope on Taiwan issues by agreeing to open a “Taiwanese Representative Office” in Vilnius by the end of the year, leading to a diplomatic and trade dispute with Beijing, which accused it of breaching the EU’s one-China policy – a suggestion that both Brussels and Vilnius denied.

Addressing parliament on Tuesday on behalf of the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell, European Commission executive vice-president Margrethe Vestager expressed “solidarity” and “support” for Vilnius.

“Lithuania and all member states [who] find themselves coerced for taking decisions that China finds offensive need support and our solidarity. The EU will continue to push back at these attempts and adopt appropriate tools, such as the anti-coercion instrument, currently under preparation,” Vestager said.

 

SCMP