Parliament adopted the recommendation on East Asia by 542 votes to 37 , with 79 abstentions, carried by a broad coalition of the EPP, S&D, Renew, Greens/EFA and ECR; The Left largely opposed or abstained and PfE and ESN split, with many abstaining. As an own-initiative recommendation this text has no direct legal effect, but it sets out Parliament's formal position on the EU's approach to the region and is intended to steer the Commission and Council toward closer ties with like-minded partners. The eight amendment votes reveal the fault lines behind the wide final margin: every one of the seven substantive amendments was rejected, and none commanded a cross-party majority. Two distinct debates ran through them. One concerned the framing of relations with China: amendments invoking UN Charter principles, mutual respect and the One China framework (Am 1 and Am 2) drew support mainly from The Left, parts of NI and ESN, and were defeated heavily, by 479 and 465 votes respectively. The other debate concerned tying EU trade with the Philippines, Viet Nam and South-East Asian supply chains to human-rights and labour conditions. Amendments to reinstate the stronger scope of the corporate due-diligence directive (Am 6), require new human-rights impact assessments (Am 4, Am 7) and add critical recitals on labour standards (Am 3, Am 5) were carried forward chiefly by the Greens/EFA, The Left and part of S&D, but the EPP, Renew and ECR voted against as blocs, so all fell. Am 6 came closest, rejected by 205 votes.
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