Friendship Taiwan-ed up in knots - John McLellan

Taiwan's relations with China are fraught

There was council leader Cammy Day all set to burnish his pro-Taiwan credentials at today’s full council meeting with a move to sign a formal friendship agreement with the City of Kaohsiung, when the item was suddenly pulled from the agenda on Monday.

The Chinese government, through its consulate in Murrayfield, took a very dim view of the move and threatened to withdraw visas for all Chinese students in Scotland, and businesses with deals in China also feared they were about to be shredded.

The question which Cllr Day must answer is why he insisted on pressing ahead with the friendship plan when officers had apparently warned it would cause significant problems and there was no need to go as far as a formal arrangement.

At least new chief executive Paul Lawrence can claim to have seen off an international crisis in his first month in the job, but how did it get to this stage in the first place? Was it by any chance a legacy of the previous regime under the now retired Andrew Kerr?

Typically, the Greens are moaning about decisions being taken about relationships by businesses and not elected representatives.

But this is a good example of why some councillors should keep out of international diplomacy and stick to getting the bins emptied on time.