China’s Foreign Ministry
China to hold talks on EU investment pact at its own pace
China will conduct talks on an investment pact with the European Union at its own pace, raising doubts about whether a deal can be sealed by year-end. China’s Foreign Ministry said, on Friday, that negotiations for the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, which would grant European companies greater access to the Chinese market, have gone on for six years. An EU official said earlier that a deal was close, following a push from Germany, which holds the EU presidency until the end of the year and is the biggest European exporter to China. But the latest comments by the Chinese government suggest otherwise. China will “conduct talks at its own pace on the premise of safeguarding its security and developmental interests’’, foreign ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, told a news briefi...
Taiwan rejects China’s main condition for WHO participation
Taiwan’s health minister, on Friday, rejected China’s main condition for the island to be able to take part in the World Health Organisation (WHO) – that it accepts it is part of China – ahead of a key meeting of the body during a pandemic, Reuters reported. Non-WHO member Taiwan has lobbied to take part as an observer in next week’s World Health Assembly (WHA), drawing strong objections from Beijing, which considers Taiwan to be one of its provinces. Taiwan says the coronavirus pandemic has made it more urgent than ever that it be allowed proper access to the WHO. China says Taiwan can only participate under the “one China” principle, in which it accepts it is a part of China. China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party refused to do this, a...
