The EU attracts flies

I have always been annoyed by the People's Republic of China failing to accept the Republic of China as an independent nation, especially when they wave armed threats around intended to bring the little buggers in line. One should think that there would be a little warning sign flashing "Maybe there's a reason they don't want to be a part of our glorius nation" in the collective brains of the PRoC government. Well, possibly they are entirely clear over the situation, and just don't care, independent little buggers have to be brought into line, because otherwise, how would things go? Loss of control and face and all that.

Still, if I was a diplomat (ha!) I would occasionally take the opportunity to point out that there is a long queue of nations^* begging to join the EU. One can be quite suspicious of the union and yet, it must be doing something right, because all these people want to get in. (Well, some think they just want a piece of the Common Agricultural Policy, but it seriously seems to go beyond that.) So, dear People's Republic of Vinegar, what have you done lately to attract Taiwan?

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^*My anal-retentive nature insists that only the part of Turkey west of the Bosphorus should be allowed to join the European Union, but I don't think anyone cares about my opinion…