Exclusive | EU-Asean statement drops language about Taiwan ahead of summit
- ‘One-China principle’ is at centre of dispute, and officials ‘preferred not to have any text at all’
- Draft communique focuses on South China Sea issues in advance of the meeting, a first for the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
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 Southeast 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.
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.