The effectiveness of the government’s policy of cross-strait detente was thrown into doubt again yesterday after a Chinese delegate to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen on Thursday opposed Taiwan’s bid for entry to the group.

A Central News Agency report said that after nine of Taiwan’s allies, including Kiribati, Palau, Gambia, Swaziland, Sao Tome and Principe, Burkina Faso, St Lucia, St Christopher and Nevis and Nicaragua, had spoken in favor of Taiwan’s bid for inclusion in the global response to climate change, a member of the Chinese delegation cited the “one China” principle and said the initiatives in favor of Taiwan’s bid to join as an observer had “hurt the feelings of the 1.3 billion Chinese people.”