Taiwan will continue to object to the appointment of a Chinese judge to the WTO's top legal panel unless the judge makes a clear statement assuring fair treatment and that statement is recognized by the world trade body, government spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) said yesterday.
"Provided Zhang Yuejiao [
Asked by the Taipei Times in a telephone interview about the government's bottom line on the issue, Shieh said: "[Taiwan] isn't demanding too much [by asking for such a statement]."
Taiwan last Monday blocked an entire meeting of the WTO where it would have approved the nomination of four new members, including Zhang, a Beijing attorney, as judges on the seven-member Appellate Body, which has a final say in the world body's dispute settlement system.
The move has become an issue within the WTO.
A report by Agence-France Presse last Friday quoted Bruce Gosper, chairman of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body, as saying: "I'm extremely concerned that if the situation persists much longer, we will have a crisis in this organization."
On Sunday, Shieh told the Associated Press that the Taipei government would back away from its opposition if it was assured of the impartiality of the Chinese judge.
Shieh said yesterday that the assurance from Zhang should be presented in the form of a "clear statement" that should also be recognized by the WTO.
"With a statement ensuring that Zhang treats Taiwan equally and without discrimination, we will alter our attitude toward her," Shieh said.
Zhang would have been the first Chinese judge in the institution if her nomination was confirmed.
Shieh defended the government's stance on the issue because of the "abnormal" relationship between China's judicial system and the Chinese regime.
"In China, the judicial system always acts upon whatever the CCP says," he said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
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A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
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