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European Parliament adopts security policies with Taiwan provisions

ROC Central News Agency

02/17/2022 09:38 PM

Brussels, Feb. 17 (CNA) The European Parliament on Thursday adopted two security policies which include provisions that support Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations and call for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was approved by the parliament in a 474-113 vote with 102 abstentions, while the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) was passed 369-197 with 123 abstentions.

In the CSFP report, the parliament "strongly advocates for Taiwan's meaningful participation as an observer in meetings, mechanisms and activities of international organizations and for deeper EU-Taiwan cooperation, including a bilateral investment agreement (BIA)."

It also calls on the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) and the European Commission to "urgently begin an impact assessment, public consultation and scoping exercise on a BIA with the Taiwanese authorities in preparation for negotiations to deepen bilateral economic ties."

The report went on to urge the European Union (EU) and its member states to take a proactive role in working with like-minded international partners to pursue peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and to establish partnerships with the democratic government of Taiwan.

With regard to the CSDP report, the parliament described increasing concerns with China's arms build-up and military posture, in particular the reported test of a hypersonic missile and increasing violations of Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

As such, the parliament said it "calls for all parties concerned to resolve their differences through peaceful means and to de-escalate the tensions as well as to refrain from taking unilateral action to change the status quo."

The CSDP report further mentioned that any unilateral action that could undermine the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and any change to cross-strait relations, must not be made against the will of Taiwan's citizens.

"The EU should undertake an assessment of the possible consequences of a regional conflict on the EU's security, which should also weigh up how the EU should respond to a deteriorating security situation in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," the report said.

(By Tang Pei-chun and Ko Lin)

Enditem/AW