EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the EU should consider the impact on Pacific Rim security before deciding whether to end a 16-year-old ban on weapons sales to China.
"What I think is right is for people to pause and reflect, taking into account every point of view, not just that of the US and that of China, but some of China's neighbors as well," Mandelson said in an interview in Brussels yesterday. "We also have to reflect on whether we have the right arrangements, the right conditions in place for supervising future arms sales if the present embargo is lifted."
China has threatened to invade Taiwan if it declares independence. Relations with Japan have also deteriorated after the Chinese government blamed its eastern neighbor for sparking protests which drew 20,000 people onto the streets of Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen on April 9 and 10.
The US opposes attempts by European politicians including French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to end a weapons ban, imposed after the Chinese army violently crushed a pro-democracy demonstration in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Mandelson pointed out that he has no vote in the embargo decision, which requires approval by EU government leaders.
Britain, a late convert last year to ending the embargo, has since expressed doubts. Scandinavian countries are also reluctant to take a step that would be seen as an endorsement of China's treatment of political dissidents.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique