The annual APEC meeting will be held next month in Shanghai, along with the "informal" leaders' summit. Host China, however, did not send an emissary to Taiwan to extend an invitation to the leaders' summit, in accordance with precedent. Instead it faxed an invite last May that was not addressed to any specific official by either name or title. It simply "notified" Taiwan's senior APEC officials about the leaders' summit and added "Please forward to the agencies concerned." The fax also included an invitation to the ministerial meetings. This not only contravenes precedent, but is extremely ill-mannered. Taiwan is leaning toward not considering the fax a formal invite and is now communicating with the Beijing authorities over the issue.
China had stressed, both before and after the announcement that Shanghai would be hosting the October meetings, that it would abide by APEC's rules and precedents and would neither treat Taiwan differently nor engage in petty maneuvers. But Beijing is now doing exactly what it said it would not. It has tried to tamper with standard APEC procedures on titles and treatment for Taiwan, denigrating Taiwan at almost every APEC meeting held this year -- the CEO summit, finance ministers' meeting, trade ministers' meeting and senior officials' meeting. It has refused to refer to Taiwan's ministers by their titles, given them inferior visa status compared with their counterparts from other countries and demanded that the ministers enter China on "Taiwan compatriot's" travel passes.
Such outrageous behavior may have kept Beijing's minions snickering in their teacups, but it is hardly the statesman-like behavior expected of an aspiring superpower. Such petty denigrations are the work of cowards.
The more China tries to denigrate Taiwan in the international arena, the more it stirs up resentment among the people of Taiwan. This growing well of resentment will only widen the distance across the Taiwan Strait. The people of Taiwan have repeatedly shown themselves willing to snub Beijing's efforts to intimidate them -- as was evident during the 1996 missile crisis and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's (
The APEC leaders' meeting does not serve any significant function. It is simply a PR occasion and a chance to develop some camaraderie. However, this hasn't stopped Beijing's efforts to block Taiwan's leaders from attending past meetings. Due to Beijing's blockade, Taiwan has only sent special emissaries to represent the president in the past -- such as Koo Chen-fu (
It would be foolish for Taiwan accept China's insults and once again send just a presidential envoy to the meeting. It is time that the government seriously considered the idea of not attending the leaders' meeting at all.
If Beijing was willing, APEC would be its best opportunity to break the cross-strait deadlock. By inviting President Chen Shui-bian (
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