Language on Taiwan has been dropped from a joint communique on the eve of a meeting of European Union and Asean leaders in Brussels, after a sharp disagreement over how to describe Taiwan’s political status.
The dispute centred on whether there was a universal “one-China principle”, with Asean negotiators pushing for text that was closer to that of Beijing’s position on the matter, EU sources said, ahead of the first summit between the European Union and the Association of South-East Asian Nations on Wednesday.
China considers Taiwan as an “inalienable part of China’s territory” that will eventually be taken back, by force if necessary.
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Brussels preferred to highlight that it has its own autonomous one-China policy, one that allows space for cooperation with Taiwan too. In the end, “they preferred not to have any text at all”, an EU official said.
Rather than focusing on Taiwan, the communique focuses on issues pertaining to the South China Sea.
“We reaffirm the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety, and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea, in accordance with international law, including Unclos,” read a draft text. Unclos stands for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
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“We reaffirm the need to enhance mutual trust and confidence, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of all activities and avoid actions that could increase tensions and the risk of accidents, misunderstandings, and miscalculation,” it continued.
The eleventh-hour blow came as negotiators were trying to thrash out details on prickly geopolitical issues such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the military coup in Myanmar; the situation in Afghanistan; and tensions on the Korean peninsula.
However, the draft text shows that the EU was not able to convince all Asean members to condemn Russia’s invasion.
It states that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy”.
“There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions. We continue to reaffirm, as for all nations, the need to respect the sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” it continued.
A senior EU official suggested that the bloc was happy with the qualified criticism.
“We are not in favour of spheres of influence and the use of force as a means of politics, and we are glad to see that our Asean partners share those concerns,” the official said.
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“We are glad to see that Asean partners share our concerns about the many negative impacts of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, and the impact of the war, which is far from only in Europe.”
The statement also says that “the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible”.
Eight leaders from Asean member states are in Brussels for the event, with Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim the only absentees.
The EU decided not to invite the Myanmar leader in keeping with Asean’s own policies on dealing with the military government, officials said. Ibrahim is absent due to domestic political issues.
The EU and Asean “remain deeply concerned over the crisis situation in Myanmar”, the draft statement reads.
“We reiterate our commitment to peace and stability in the region and continue to call for the immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and for the release of all political detainees, including foreigners. We denounce the executions of four opposition activists in July,” it continues.
Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh condemned the use of war to solve territorial disputes, without naming Russia.
“Vietnam has undergone too much war, and understands the price of peace,” Pham said, calling on “all disputes in the world to be settled by peaceful means” in line with the UN charter.
More from South China Morning Post:
- EU calls on China to ‘live up to’ debt relief responsibilities, as burden rises in developing world
- EU sides with Philippines over South China Sea water cannon incident
- China’s Wang Yi warns European nations not to develop ties with Taiwan
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