A French court on Wednesday recognized Taiwan’s right to make its case in a legal dispute, despite Paris not recognizing it as an independent state.
The Taiwanese government has been involved in a battle with Beijing over the ownership of a patch of land on Tahiti, in French Polynesia, for more than 30 years, and the case has now been transferred to the appeals court in Paris.
China built a consulate on a patch of land in Papeete, the capital of the French Polynesian island of Tahiti in 1946. Taipei and Beijing have since disputed ownership of the property in a legal battle that started back in 1978.
Last week, in an interim judgment, the court ruled that Taiwan’s case could be heard “independent of the diplomatic situation” even given Taipei’s status as “a Chinese state not recognized by the international community.”
The Taipei government’s lawyer on Wednesday welcomed the French ruling.
“This decision formalizes the recognition of Taiwan by the French judicial authorities,” Guillaume Selnet said. “If Taiwan can play a judicial role, it follows that the Republic of China must exist.”
Beijing’s lawyer, Francois Froment-Meurice, said he would appeal the ruling, which he ascribed to the judges’ “stupidity” and complained that the appeals court had displayed a “worrying judicial mediocrity.”
French foreign ministry spokesman Eris Chevallier said that he could not comment on a judicial decision.
France has recognized the People’s Republic of China since 1964 and does not acknowledge Taiwan as an independent state.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said yesterday the property was donated to the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government by an overseas Chinese group in 1946.
The land was registered in the KMT’s name and the Republic of China in Tahiti’s consular office was built the same year, Chen said.
In 1964, Taiwan and France broke diplomatic ties and the office was shut down the following year. After being vacant for 13 years, the Taiwanese government turned the property over to be managed by the overseas Chinese group, he said.
In 2003, Beijing sued the group and insisted it was the rightful owner of the property. In 2004, a local court in Tahiti ruled in favor of China. The decision infuriated the group, which immediately appealed against the ruling in February 2005.
When the appeal was rejected in May 2005, the group made a direct appeal in 2006 to a French court to retry the case.
Chen said this was not the first time that a property had been confiscated by the local government after the severance of official ties with Taipei.
When Seoul switched recognition to Beijing 1992, a piece of real estate that included the Republic of China embassy was given to Beijing.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it