Madam President, Mr Haarder, Commissioner Patten, the report drafted by my colleague, Jules Maaten, on the Commission Communication on relations between the European Union and Asian countries deserves recognition, which is shown by the fact that it was adopted by the Committee by a large majority. I also wish to thank both the Council and the Commission for the forward-looking manner in which they are handling relations between these two areas of the world. My colleague, Mr Jarzembowski, laid down our group’s major policies in his own distinctive way, one which is both lucid and brilliant, and I will therefore only consider a few details. I would like to draw attention to particular points that for many of us might seem no more than subtleties, but which are of particular importance with regard to our relations, for example, with the People’s Republic of China. The report raises the issue of the importance that Taiwan holds for us. It is an important trading partner and a community that has progressed a long way in its democratic development. We have, however, accepted the concept of one China despite the fact that we are rightfully concerned about Taiwan’s position and we oppose certain measures or the threat of them. For that reason, if we are to be consistent we cannot treat Taiwan as a fully independent state, a position most clearly demonstrated by the fact that the Chinese People’s Republic is a member of the United Nations, and Taiwan is not. Neither can Taiwan therefore be a member of the WHO. Therefore, the form of cooperation that I would also like to see develop must be of another kind. The WHO is a community of independent states. Next, this is obviously my personal opinion, but as I have often had the chance to visit mainland China both officially and unofficially since 1985 and have talked with ordinary people and the authorities and followed developments there, I think that human rights there, which really are still nowhere near our idea of what they should be, have also seen some positive developments. Whilst we insist that China make further and faster progress in this area, we should also acknowledge that this has taken place in a country which is important to us in terms of cooperation. I am a staunch opponent of the death penalty but logically we should oppose it everywhere. It is a question of a qualitative, and not a numerical, value. I would remind everyone that in the last ten years around three hundred death sentences have been carried out in Taiwan, with just under a hundred in Japan. Approximately one-third of the world’s Muslim population lives in Asia, which also has the world’s largest Muslim countries in terms of population. The Group believes it is very important to maintain dialogue with these countries and improve knowledge of each other’s cultures, for example, in the form of citizen exchange programmes. For the time being, the vast majority of Asia’s Islamic population accept and comply with their governments’ moderate and, to a greater or lesser degree, democratic policies. The most critical situation is that in Pakistan where democracy has been has been overthrown and terrorist activity continues more or less openly. If, however, confrontation in the Middle East should escalate – intentionally or otherwise – that must also have an impact on Asian Muslim attitudes and the possible rise in fundamentalism in these countries. For that reason it is also very important for our relations with Asia to find a solution to the situation in the Middle East – and that includes both the Israel-Palestine conflict and the Iraqi threat – through cooperation across a wide front using the most universally accepted means possible. I know that, technically, Mongolia counts as a Central Asian country as far as the Commission’s – and therefore also our own – work plans are concerned, but in my opinion it should be part of a more eastern Asia, as in fact it is, geographically speaking. Mongolia, for many reasons, not least because the structures of communism totally vanished there, destroying the industrial structure, but also because of its climatic conditions, has slid into an almost medieval state as far as industry, education and health are concerned. I think this country deserves and, furthermore, needs the sort of first-rate care and assistance the EU has to offer. It cannot get up off the ground unaided. We must not forget this country.

Political group: PPE-DE