
TAIPEI -- A China backlash appears to be taking shape in the European Union, where this month the foreign affairs committee of parliament issued a report calling on the 27-nation bloc to begin preparing a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) with Taiwan.
The move came after the recent European Parliament session passed an amendment that calls for changing a trade office's name on the island to the European Union Office in Taiwan, a step that indicates the EU feels the need to "move away from [its] solely economic" relationship with Taiwan, according to the BIA report's rapporteur.