Biggest European party to ban Chinese goods manufactured in Xinjiang's so-called 're-education' camps
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Brussels, Mar 11: The European People's Party (EPP), the biggest party in the European Parliament, is set to adopt a hardline policy on China, including an investment treaty with Taiwan and a total ban on goods produced in the 're-education camps' of Xinjiang. The EEP has stated, "We support the launch of negotiations for a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan."
European Union's biggest political group, the EPP is an umbrella grouping that includes MEPs from Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union. The paper that the EPP has released calls for a start on Taiwan investment talks and for Taipei to be welcomed in order to participate in WHO meetings, mechanisms and activities, particularly during the pandemic. Previously, calls from countries such as Australia for Taiwan's involvement in the WHO have angered the dragon.
The paper also described the EU's approach to China as 'outdated' and that the EU was fiercely critical of China's disregard for the multilateral system and international agreements, the spread of Chinese malign influence and failure to live up to fundamental human rights obligations. As the EU's partner, China is naturally expected to respect its own international obligations, which is not yet the case.
Systemic rivalry can increasingly be seen as the overriding paradigm in the relationship between China and the EU. However, the EU believes that they should not disregard the need to continue dialogue with China. The statement of the EU also added that "an investment agreement itself cannot resolve all issues ailing our economic and political relationship." Thus, the EPP has called for the EU to follow the United States in banning imports of products from companies taking advantage of forced labour, while products produced in re-education camps should be banned from EU markets as well.