Taiwan says dispute over WTO Chinese judge appointment settled

Nov 28, 2007, 12:59 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan said Wednesday its latest dispute over the appointment of a Chinese judge to the World Trade Organisation's top court was resolved after WTO guaranteed that there would be no impartiality problem in the future.

'After close discussions and communication with WTO authorities, our concerns over our future rights have been taken into account and the problem has been resolved,' Economics Minister Steve Chen said.

He was referring to Taiwan's withdrawal of its objections Tuesday to the appointment of Chinese lawyer Zhang Yeujiao as a judge of the seven-member WTO Appellate Body after WTO authorities assured that Taiwan's rights would be guaranteed in future.

Taiwan boycotted the appointment last week amid concerns that Zhang might follow the instructions of China and fail to maintain impartiality in dealing with cases involving the island. The boycott resulted in WTO's top court not being able to function properly.

Chen said Taiwan has no intention of boycotting the appointment that threatened to paralyse the trade dispute settlement body. 'All we want is that our rights and interests would not be undermined in the future,' he stressed.

Phoebe Yeh, a spokeswoman for Taiwan's Foreign Ministry, said China, a rival of Taiwan, has on many occasions, suppressed Taiwan's WTO activities. 'This is why Taiwan is concerned about the judge appointment,' she said.

She said the island dropped its objections after WTO Director- General Pascal Lamy and Dispute Settlement Body Chairman Bruce Gosper gave their word that all future cases involving Taiwan would be handled strictly in accordance with WTO's rules.

Taiwan and China split at the end of 1949 when the Chinese nationalist government fled to Taiwan to set up a government in exile.

As Taiwan is recognized by only 24 mostly small nations, China has barred Taiwan from joining most international organizations and has demanded the island reunite with mainland China. But Taiwan insists on its sovereign status and insists on equal treatment in international organizations.