Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) The European Union has a "one China but not now" policy and Taiwan's attempt to gain EU support for its U.N. membership bid is unlikely to be successful because the EU still places its emphasis with Taiwan on economic ties, said a visiting scholar from Europe Friday.
"The EU counts on good relations with the People's Republic of China and the United States, " Jonathan Holslag, a researcher at Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Study, said at an international conference held in Taipei.
The EU is an economic giant, a diplomatic dwarf and a military worm, Holslag claimed in the conference organized by the Taiwan Society of International Law and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy to discuss Taiwan's U.N. membership bid.
Neither EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Javier Solana -- who publicly denounced Taiwan's proposal of holding a referendum -- nor the EU, nor the European Commission support Taiwan's bid, he said.
"The European Parliament also takes a skeptic posture," he added.
One of the hot issues is the definition of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, Holslag said.
In Europe, China is much more able to promote its opinion than Taiwan, even though the Taiwanese mission is one of the most active Asian representations, he said.
The EU embraces the opportunity to do business with a country like Taiwan that excels in advanced technology, but is loath to get its hands dirty with delicate diplomatic issues like cross-strait relations and requires Taipei to keep its head cool and to avoid stepping on Beijing's toes, " he said.
"Don't expect much from Europe, " said Holslag, who also encouraged Taiwan to resort to a "two-track policy" in aiming for as much international presence as possible while fostering close substantive ties with major countries around the world.