European Union trade chief Pascal Lamy said on March 18 that the election result in China's Taiwan would not affect his negotiations with China on its bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Lamy, who is due to travel to Beijing on March 27 for crucial WTO talks, made the remarks at a news conference after a meeting of EU trade ministers in Portugal. He said the negotiating mandate has been given by EU governments and the trade differences between China and EU are technical, nothing to do with the situation in Taiwan.