6 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES Tuesday4 February 2020

K AT H R I N H I L L E —TA I P E I

Taiwan’svice-president-electisvisiting

Washington and New York in the

highest-level visit by a politician from

the island to the US since it cut diplo-

maticrelationswithTaipeiin1979.

In a trip likely to enrage Beijing, Lai

Ching-te flew to the US on Sunday night

to attend the National Prayer Breakfast,

his office said yesterday. The annual

political eventis attended by usinessb

and political elites and features an

address by the US president.

Although the breakfast is not control-

led by the US state department, Mr Lai

would have needed permission from the

Trump administrationto attend.

Mr Lai is due to be inaugurated along-

side President Tsai Ing-wen on May 20

after alandslide victory n January. Hei

belongs to a part of the ruling Demo-

cratic Progressive party that wants to

formalise Taiwan’s independence.

China claims Taiwan as its territory,

although it has never ruled the island.

Beijing has pressed third countries and

international organisations to do noth-

ingthat would suggest recognition or

acknowledgment of its statehood.

Shelley Rigger, a Taiwan expert at

Davidson College in North Carolina, said

allowing Mr Lai’s visitcould destabilise

relations between Taiwan and Beijing as

well as between China and the US.

“It bears a strong resemblance to

when Donald Trump took Tsai Ing-

wen’s congratulatory call as president-

elect. Beijing will react as strongly as

they think they can get away with,” she

said. “They have paranoia about Lai in

particular and see him as an independ-

ence fundamentalist.”

Since changing its diplomatic recogni-

tion of China from Taipei to Beijing in

1979,the US has allowed Taiwanese

presidents to make short visits in transit

to and from Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.

But Washington has been off limits.

Lower-ranking Taiwanese ministers,

lawmakers and presidential candidates

have made occasional visitsbut their US

interlocutors normally keep meetings

out of the public eye and away from gov-

ernment buildings.

US and Taiwanese officials describe

relations s the best since 1979. Ms Tsaia

has earned US support by asserting sov-

ereignty but avoiding moves that could

be construed by Beijing as provocation.

US officials have a more ambivalent

view of Mr Lai ecause of his support forb

formal independence, say diplomats.

Mr Lai’s visitcomes as the spread of

coronavirus highlights Taiwan’s isola-

tion. The World Health Organization

treats Taiwan as a part of China, includ-

ingdata on Taiwanese victims in the

overall China count, and refuses to

engage with Taiwan directly.

Officials in Taipei said Beijing had

ignoredpleas to allow an evacuation of

its citizens from outbreak-affected areas

for nearly two weeks. It agreed to start

flying them out last night.

Taiwan’s exclusion from international

efforts against the outbreak mirrors the

severe acute respiratory syndrome epi-

demic in 2003. At the time, Taipei had

to rely on the US Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention to obtain data

from the WHO on its behalf.

East Asia

Taipei risks Beijing’s ire with Washington trip

‘They have paranoia about

Lai in particular and see

him as an independence

fundamentalist’

B RYA N H A R R I S— B R A SI L I A

Brazil is facing a backlash from global
anti-money laundering authorities after
lawmakers stripped a key financial
crimes unit of the power to report on
terrorist financing.
The decision to curb the activities of
the Council for Financial Activities Con-
trol (Coaf), which reports on financial
crimes, was sparked by opposition
legislators’ fears that President Jair Bol-
sonaro’s administration could turn its
powers against social activists who the
rightwing president has equated with
terrorists.
But the move by lawmakers has infu-
riated US officials while experts said it
was likely to prompt a rebuke from the

international Financial Action Task

Force, which over the past decade has

repeatedly warned Brazil over its com-

pliance with global anti-money launder-

ing standards.

Some experts said Brazil was at risk of

being placed on a “grey list” of countries

with problematic anti-money launder-

ing and anti-terror funding standards.

Jorge Lasmar, a money-laundering

expert at the Pontifical Catholic Univer-

sity of Minas Gerais, said the decision by

lawmakers would create a “serious

problem” for Brazil ahead of a new eval-

uation report by the FATF.

“Brazil has already been in the hot

seat, and this year it will have this

assessment. When the FATF arrives and

sees that Coaf annot report [on terror-c

ist financing], Brazil will have a serious

problem and is likely to be placed on the

grey list. That would be a huge setback,”

Mr Lasmar said.

“Being on the list will have a direct

impact on the financial system

itself... [Institutions] will charge more

for transactions with Brazil.”

One official with knowledge of the

matter said: “For sure FATF and inter-

national organisations will criticise this

limitation [on terrorist financing]

because it was clear this was the inten-

tion of congress.”

Brazil’s opposition Workers’ party

spearheaded the changes to oaf’s man-C

date out of concern over the increas-

ingly authoritarian hetoric of Mr Bol-r

sonaro, who compared anti-govern-

ment protesters in Chile to terrorists.

Mr Bolsonaro’s influential son, Eduardo,

also said repressive laws from Brazil’s

military-era government should be re-

enacted if “the left radicalises”.

“When it comes to governments like

Bolsonaro’s, they can consider social

movements as terrorists,” said Enio

Verri, the leader of the Workers’ party in

the lower house ofCongress. “They

could use this power [of reporting on

terrorist financing] to create more

restrictions and more arguments

against social organisations. Our con-

cern was for these bodies.”

In a statement, Coaf insisted it would

“undoubtedly continue to produce

reports on terrorist financing... as well

as on any other illegal act. This has not

been altered by the fact that there is no

specific mention of a crime such as ter-

rorist financing in the [new law].”

However, critics of the decision to

pare back Coaf’s mandate say it could

affect the agency’s ability to act and

pave the way for legal challenges to

investigations. The FATF declined to

comment.

After years of increasingly vocal lob-

bying from the FATF, Brazil in 2016

passed an anti-terror law and has since

won plaudits for gradually improving its

anti-money laundering regime.

Additional reporting by Carolina Pulice

Money laundering

Brazil terror move provokes US anger

Legislators strip financial

crime unit of vital power

in move against Bolsonaro

‘Brazil is

likely to be

placed on

the grey list

[of nations

with

anti-money

laundering

problems],

a huge

setback’

M E H R E E N K H A N— B R U S S E L S

The EU’s final words to the UK as it
departed the bloc after nearly half a cen-
tury were “thank you, goodbye, and
good riddance”.
The misspoken farewell, spoken last
week by the Croatian ambassador in
Brussels to UK counterpart SirTim Bar-
row perhaps sums up 47 years of the
British being lost in translation in the
EU.
Irena Andrassy, the Croatian ambas-
sador, was chairing the UK’s final meet-
ing as a member state of EU envoys
because her country holds the six-
month EU presidency. She assumed
“good riddance” was akin to “good
luck”, said diplomats present in the
room. Despite some feelings running
high towards the UK, the goodbye was
not a barb in disguise, they insisted.
The meeting came two days before
the UK’s formal exit from the EUlast
Friday, which marked the end of Brit-
ain’s involvement ininstitutionsinclud-
ing the European Parliament and the
European Council.
Sir Tim took the Croatian envoy’s
comment in good part. “The Brits saw
the funny side and understood how it

was meant. But history will show that

these were the last words from the EU to

the UK’s ambassador before Brexit,”

said one official in the room.

The UK has been a mainstay of the

weekly Brussels conclave of EU ambas-

sadorssince it joined in 1973. Its secre-

tive discussions have grown in impor-

tance in recent years as EU envoys have

become powerful proxies for theirgov-

ernments.

Diplomats described the UK’s final

participating meeting as good-hu-

moured. Sir Tim, who has served as the

UK’s permanent representative since

2017, told colleagues he would miss sit-

ting around the table but would see

them “soon” in his new role as “ambas-

sador to the European Union”.

The two sides arenegotiating a new

trading relationshipto be signed off by

the end of a standstill transition period

that runs out at the end of the year.

Talks are due to begin ext month.n

The UK and Sir Tim will be outside the

room when decisions on Britain’s trad-

ing relationship will be taken by the

EU27.

Ms Andrassy’s unfortunate slip is

emblematic of the UK’s mixed linguistic

l e g a c y i n E u ro p e : B r i t a i n h a s

bequeathed English as one of the two

main working languages of the EU

(alongside French) but its nuances can

often be lost on non-native speakers.

Richard Corbett, former Labour MEP,

recalls anintervention from a French

MEP who stood in the chamber to thank

“la sagesse normande”, r the “wisdom ofo

the people of Normandy”. The parlia-

ment’s translation service turned it into

“all thanks to Norman Wisdom [the

actor and comedian]”.

“No one of any other nationality could

quite understand why the British and

Irish members were in stitches,” said Mr

Corbett.

Lost in translationGood riddance, EU tells UK

Tim Barrow: saw the funny side of the

Croatian envoy’s words of farewell

Lawyers march through Paris

yesterday in protest at Emmanuel

Macron’s pensions reforms, joining

nurses, doctors and other self-

employed workers angered at the

president’s sweeping changes.

The protests were designed to raise

pressure on the government as the

upper house of parliament examines

a draft bill. The reform, aimed at

merging 42 different pension

schemes, is one of Mr Macron’s

flagship campaign pledges, but has

triggered fierce opposition from

unions, railway workers and civil

servants.

French lawyers have been on strike

for more than four weeks. The

walkout has strained the country’s

judiciary system, disrupting

tribunals and forcing delays in civil

and criminal hearings.

Legal battle

Lawyers join

Paris protests

Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty

SA M F L E M I N G— B R U S S E L S
VA L E R I E H O P K I N S— B U DA P E S T

The president of the European People’s
party indicated he could see little pros-
pect ofHungary prime minister Viktor
Orban and his ruling Fidesz party
regainingactivemembership.

After the centre-right party decided
yesterday to keep Fidesz suspended
indefinitely, Donald Tusk told the EPP’s
political assembly he did not have high
hopes for a “visible improvement”.
Mr Orban’s party was suspended last
year from the EPP for attacking EU lead-
ers and flouting democratic standards.
“If the situation doesn’t change, I cannot
see Fidesz returning to our family, at
least as long as I am president of the
EPP,” Mr Tusk told the closed eeting.m
As Hungary’s premier, Mr Orban has

cast himself as a vehement opponent of

migration and clashed with Brussels

over his attempts to reshape Hungary’s

judicial system, clamp down on civil

society organisations and impinge on

academic freedom.

When hebecame EPP president in

November, Mr Tusk suggested he would

take a hardline approach to Fidesz, tell-

ing delegates the EPP would not sacri-

fice the values of civic liberties, the rule

of law and decency in public life on the

“altar” of security and order.

“Whoever is unable to accept this is de

facto placing himself outside our fam-

ily,” the former European Council presi-

dent said, in words that were taken by

attendees at the EPP congress as point-

ing to Mr Orban and Fidesz.

Mr Tusk has since been consulting

Fidesz and EPP elderson how to handle

the situation. Thetalks suggested EPP

was divided on whether to expel Mr

Orban’s party or keep open the prospect

of an eventual return tomembership.

Some members cannot envisage a rec-

onciliation with Fidesz given Hungary’s

democratic backsliding, as well as Mr

Orban’spersonal attacks n EPP figureso

including Jean-Claude Juncker, former

European Commission president.

Aura Salla, chairwoman of Finland’s

Kokoomus, a member of the EPP, said

her party had wished to exclude Fidesz,

tweeting “Fidesz is in breach of EPP val-

ues & principles”.

Others, however, do not want the EPP

to lose the seats in the European Parlia-

ment that Fidesz brings.

There is also a concern that if Mr Or-

ban were to exit the EPP he could be

pushed into an alliance with other par-

ties on Europe’s nationalist fringes, add-

ing to the challengesthe EPP faces.

Mr Orban has previously indicated he

could pursue alternatives to the EPP.

Even as the centre-right group was dis-

cussing his membership,Mr Orban flew

to Rome for the National Conservatism

conference to share the stage with Ital-

ian populist Matteo Salvini, leader ofthe

anti-immigration League.

Peter Kreko, director of the Budapest-

based think-tank Political Capital, said

the EPP extension for Fidesz was a

short-term win for Mr Orban, who seeks

to remain part of the EU’s most powerful

political family as Hungary fights for its

share of the bloc’s budget. Mr Tusk

acknowledged in speaking to the EPP

there had been caution within the party

about taking “radical steps” to deal with

Fidesz.

European People’s party

Tusk shuts door on Orban’s return to centre-right bloc

O

ne of the world’s worst humanitarian crises is

about to get worse — and that was not the

conclusion Venezuela’s opposition leader

intended to be drawn after his two-week tour

of Europe and North America.

Juan Guaidó defied a travel ban, hoping to rally support

from western allies to topple the regime of Nicolás Maduro

and end the corruption, repression and misrule that have

driven more than 4.6m Venezuelans abroad.

He found sympathetic ears in Boris Johnson in London,

Emmanuel Macron in Paris and Justin Trudeau in Ottawa

but failed to secure his most prized target: talks with Don-

ald Trump in Miami, where both men spent last weekend.

In Madrid, Mr Guaidó’s visit was overshadowed by the

revelation that a Spanish cabinet minister had secretly met

Delcy Rodriguez, Mr Maduro’s vice-president, on the tar-

mac at Barajas airport, despite EU sanctions which should

have barred her plane from landing.

Mr Guaidó’spassing resemblance to the youthful Barack

Obama inspired Jorge Arreaza, Venezuela’s foreign minis-

ter,to mock him as a US puppet after hemet US politicians

in Miami at the weekend. “Surprise! Barack Obama has

reappeared in Miami meeting the white commu-

nity... oh sorry, they tell me it’s Guaidó,” he tweeted.

US officials voice support in public for Mr Guaidó and his

campaign for free elections buttheir doubts are growing.

“The Trump administration is reassessing its strategy,”

said Risa Grais-Targow, a Venezuela expert at the Eurasia

consultancy. “There is frustration with Guaidó’s inability

to force change.”

Mr Trump was prom-

ised quick results in Ven-

ezuela by John Bolton, his

former national security

adviser. Instead, a US

campaign promoting Mr

Guaidó as interim leader,

attacking Mr Maduro as

illegitimate and imposing

ever harsher economic

sanctions has failed to deliver regime change.

Threatened by a collapse in oil production, a cratering

economy and hyperinflation, the regime has found new

ways to survive. Gold mining, drug trafficking and ever-

increasing remittances from the Venezuelan diaspora

have provided a steady stream of dollars, say US officials.

Socialist policies such as price controls and import restric-

tions have been quietly ditched. Santa Teresa, Venezuela’s

leading rum producer, managed the country’s first share

offering in 11 years last week.

Mr Guaidó’s team still hopes to force change. “What is

important is that we work with allies such as France and

the UK and get them to strengthen the argument that Ven-

ezuela needs fresh presidential elections,” said Vanessa

Neumann, Mr Guaidó’s envoy to the UK.

Time is short. Mr Guaidó’s claim to be Venezuela’s

interim leader is recognised by the US, the EU and Latin

America. However, it rests on his presidency of the

opposition-controlled National Assembly, the country’s

last remaining democratic institution. Fresh parliamen-

tary elections are due this year and Mr Maduro’s tight con-

trol of the electoral system, combined with opposition

divisions, are likely to hand the regime victory. Polls show

that Venezuelans are losing faith in Mr Guaidó’s ability to

deliver change. Meanwhile, refugees continue to stream

out of Venezuela at a rate of more than 3,000 a day.

A growing number of prominent Latin Americans

believe the Venezuelan crisis needs to be solved through

talks involving not just the Maduro government and Mr

Guaidó but also the US and Cuba, Russia and China, the

Caracas regime’s main backers.

Juan Manuel Santos, the former president of Colombia,

recalled the successful mediation that ended the civil war

in the 1980s between Nicaragua’s Sandinista revolutionary

government and the US-backed Contra forces. “For Vene-

zuela, we need a peaceful negotiated solution with all the

stakeholders, like the one which led to Daniel Ortega’s first

exit in Nicaragua,” he said.

[email protected]

GLOBAL INSIGHT

SOUTH AMERICA

Michael

Stott

Guaidó’s travels end in

realisation that little

has changed in Caracas

Venezuela’s leading

rum producer

managed the first

share offering in

11 years last week

‘If the

situation

doesn’t

change, I

cannot see

Fidesz

returning to

our family,

at least as

long as I am

president of

the EPP’

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

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