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Geneva court will rule on Taiwan vs ISO lawsuit

A court in Geneva is expected to deliver a verdict within two months on a lawsuit filed by Taiwan against the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for referring to Taiwan as a part of China.

The Geneva First Instance Court held a second hearing on Thursday for the lawsuit filed on July 20 requesting that the organization rectify Taiwan's designation from "Taiwan Province, China" to "Republic of China (Taiwan)" in the ISO 3166 country codes list.

The lawsuit came after the ISO failed to respond positively to Taiwan's repeated requests over the name issue.

Rebutting the organization's doubts about Taiwan's legal standing, Henri-Philippe Sambuc, the lawyer representing Taiwan, argued during Thursday's hearing that Taiwan has all the elements of a country and that Taiwan acts as an international legal entity, which requires no recognition from other countries.

Taiwan has inked many valid treaties and agreements with countries, including Switzerland, that do not have diplomatic ties with it, Sambuc said.

In many legal cases, courts in countries that are not Taiwan's diplomatic allies have also confirmed Taiwan's legal eligibility, Sambuc said.

Sambuc further cited as an example a ruling by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court on a kickback scandal involving Taiwan's procurement of six Lafayette-class frigates from France.

It is the first time that Taiwan has resorted to legal action against a major international organization over the name issue.

The ISO 3166 list has been widely used and has made the use of "Taiwan Province, China" increasingly prevalent among international organizations and multinational business groups.
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