A foreign ministry official brushed off speculation that Taiwan is having trouble opening an economic and cultural office in Egypt because of meddling from China, local media reported yesterday.
On Dec. 8, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) proudly announced that Taipei and Cairo had agreed to set up economic and cultural offices on a reciprocal basis by the end of the month if possible.
Diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Egypt were severed 44 years ago.
But the original deadline for the opening has already passed and local media have speculated that Beijing had nixed the deal.
The Central News Agency (中央社) yesterday quoted Tau Wen-long (陶文隆) the director general of the foreign ministry's department of African affairs as saying the opening of the trade office has not been delayed because there was never a specific date for its establishment.
"Taiwan's diplomats are still looking for a suitable location to set up the office in Cairo," Tau said.
According to Tau, China tries to block Taiwan's diplomatic efforts around the world and Beijing's efforts in Egypt have not been much different from anywhere else.
Taiwan has long wanted to establish an official presence in Egypt, which in 1999 had US$200 million in bilateral trade with Taiwan and was the destination of more than 10,000 Taiwanese tourists.
Opening the office, which would serve as a de facto embassy, would be seen as a notable success for Taiwan in its on-going struggle for international recognition in the face of opposition from China.
Since Egypt has been a major strategic partner of China in the Arab and African world, analysts have looked on the agreement between Taipei and Cairo as having great significance in diplomatic terms.
China's official Xinhua News Agency (新華社), however, on Thursday said that relations between Beijing and Cairo are very stable, and Egyptian authorities have promised to abide by the "one China" principle.
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