EU leaders on Friday took a stance on cross-strait issues between Taiwan and China for the first time, saying during a summit that they are against any unilateral moves to change the “status quo.”
The East and South China seas are of strategic importance for regional and global prosperity and security, and the EU is concerned about growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the leaders said in conclusions issued after the two-day European Council meeting.
“The European Council opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. It reconfirms the EU’s consistent ‘one China policy,’” the leaders’ statement said.
Photo: AP
In addition, the EU expressed concerns about how China handles human rights issues, including forced labor, the treatment of human rights defenders and minorities, the situations in Tibet and Xinjiang, and the honoring of its previous commitments related to Hong Kong.
In the statement, the leaders reiterated the EU’s multifaceted policy approach toward China, which they said was simultaneously a partner, competitor and systemic rival.
With that in mind, the bloc would continue to engage with China to tackle global challenges and would encourage Beijing to take more ambitious action on climate change, biodiversity, pandemic preparedness and humanitarian assistance, among other issues, it said.
The EU would also seek to ensure a level playing field with China, so that trade and the economic relationship can be balanced, reciprocal and mutually beneficial, the leaders said.
Meanwhile, the 27-member bloc would continue to reduce critical dependencies and vulnerabilities on China, including on its supply chains, and would seek to “de-risk and diversify where necessary and appropriate,” they said.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the European Council for publicly voicing its support for cross-strait peace and stability over the past few months, while opposing the use of force to unilateral change the “status quo” in the Strait.
Taiwan would continue to deepen exchanges and cooperation with EU members and like-minded democratic partners and jointly safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity, it added.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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