By Martin Banks - 22nd September 2011
This decision has no basis in international law
Charles Tannock
MEPs have condemned as "unacceptable" the World Health Organisation's decision to refer to Taiwan as a part of mainland China.
Taiwan has already lodged a formal protest with the WHO.
Taiwan has fiercely rejected historical Chinese claims to sovereignty over its small neighbour across the Taiwan straits. Despite a softening in relations between the two in recent years, China still has over 1000 missiles targeting Taiwan.
Senior Taiwan officials have expressed anger, saying that "the government cannot tolerate the belittling of ROC sovereignty".
The issue of Taiwan's sovereignty comes in response to a July 4 letter sent by the WHO to British Tory MEP Charles Tannock, chairman of parliament's Taiwan friendship group.
In the letter, which came to light only in the last few days, the WHO reiterated its position that Taiwan is a province of mainland China.
Tannock, along with 20 MEPs, has now written a letter of protest to WHO director-general Margaret Chan, stating that the WHO reference to Taiwan "has no basis in international law and that its position on Taiwan is politically and morally flawed".
Taiwan released a statement September 20 calling on the WHO to act "based on a pragmatic, transparent and consistent manner for the sake of global public health".
The Taiwan government will continue to join efforts with its allies and friends around the world to urge the WHO to improve and expand Taiwan's meaningful participation in the body, the statement said.
Meanwhile, a seminar heard that China's growing interest in Latin America "could be a concern for the EU".
The debate, organised by the European institute for asian studies (EIAS) heard that the EU and Latin America "can certainly be regarded as natural allies, linked by strong historical, cultural and economic ties".
David Fouquet, of the EIAS, said, "They cooperate closely at international level and maintain an intensive political dialogue at all levels. With regard to the economic front, the EU is currently a leading investor in Latin America and it is its second major trading partner, after the USA."
But the debate heard that a recent report published by the UN economic commission for Latin America (ECLAC) revealed that China has also become an important strategic trading partner for Latin America.
In order to satisfy its growing demand for natural resources, the UN says that China is logically placing its attention in Latin America, a continent which owns 25 per cent of the world's fertile land, 33 per cent of drinking water and a very rich base of raw materials.
The debate was told that "it is indisputable that both sides of the Pacific Rim are getting significantly closer and, in the last 10 years, bilateral trade soared more than tenfold".
According to forecasts by the ECLAC, if predicted growth targets continue, China is expected to replace the EU as the second largest global partner in the region by no later than 2015, it was said.
The EIAS said, "This is understandably of great concern for the EU, who is currently under negotiations for a free trade agreement with the common market of the South (Mercosur) in order to retain its influential position in the region.
"With the noticeable increasing global interest in Latin America, the region currently stands in a crucial position never experienced before, since it can benefit from not one, but three major engines of world growth.
"Latin America highly appreciates principles proclaimed by Beijing, such as non-interference, collaboration, pragmatism, persuasion, strategic patience, multilateralism and multi-polarism.
"Nevertheless, when we analyse China's political model, we find most of the subcontinent closer to western values, particularly regarding pluralism and human rights. It is consequently an appropriate occasion for the Latin American countries to jointly define their regional strategic priorities."
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