By DPA
Beijing : The European Union (EU) Wednesday criticized Taiwan’s planned referendum on joining the United Nations, saying it could worsen the already tense relations between Taipei and Beijing.
“We believe the referendum might change the current status quo for the worse,” Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates told reporters in Beijing as European and Chinese representatives gathered for the EU-China summit.
Socrates’ comments, made in his capacity as head of the rotating EU presidency, represent the fulfilment of a key demand of the Chinese leadership, which had pressured the EU to explicitly come out during the summit against the Taiwanese referendum.
Prior to this, EU leaders had merely reiterated EU’s adherence to its “one China” policy, which sets Beijing as its sole Chinese political partner.
French President Nicholas Sarkozy had during his first official Chinese visit on Monday become the first European leader to openly oppose the planned referendum.
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian plans to hold a referendum on joining the UN on March 22, 2008, the same day as Taiwan’s presidential election. Beijing, which views Taiwan as its breakaway province, opposes the move as a step towards formal independence.