The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Macedonia remain firm despite rumors that the troubled Balkan state plans to re-establish ties with Beijing.
Ministry spokeswoman Katharine Chang (
The noise Chang referred to came in part from Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva, who said on May 25 that it was "a mistake" for Macedonia to establish official links with Taiwan. Chang expressed regret about Mitreva's remarks.
An advisor to Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski also pressed the case for Beijing yesterday.
"We think that relations with China should be re-established," Dinka Ilkova-Boskovic said.
"This does not mean that Taipei will not remain an economic partner of Skopje," Ilkova-Boskovic said, adding that a suspension of relations with Taiwan "will not be done in a rush, and will not be a shock, as the establishment of relations was."
Reviving links between Skopje and Beijing would be "a logical follow-up as the Macedonian presidency has been open to it for two years," she said.
In addition, the director of Macedonia's presidential office, Zoran Jolevski, has flown to Beijing for what are said to be discussions relating to re-establishing ties between the two nations.
"Zoran Jolevski has not been authorized by the president to make the visit to Beijing," Chang said. "Macedonian Prime Minister Georgievski has re-affirmed to us that he strongly supports the policy to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan."
But Chang added that due to the ever-changing political situation in Macedonia, the government would continue to keep an eye on any possible changes in Macedonia's foreign policy.
"We will not accept any change in the diplomatic relations between the two sides. We will not accept any other form of links with Macedonia other than the official ones," Chang said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂), who is accompanying President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on his tour of Central American allies, also said that diplomatic ties between Taipei and Skopje remain strong, and that there was no need to worry about any possible change in relations between the two sides.
The rumors about Macedonia's plans to re-establish ties with China came from a report in yesterday's Chinese-language media, which said that Jolevski had been authorized by the Macedonian government to discuss the question of diplomatic relations with Beijing authorities.
The report said Macedonia's plan to re-establish ties with China is driven by its desire for help from China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to help solve its civil conflict. Albanian rebels have been fighting government forces since February for greater rights and recognition for the minority Albanians.
"Macedonia is in war, so it badly needs China's support in the Security Council. From the point of view of national defense, restoring ties with China will benefit Macedonia," Mitreva said.
Also, Macedonia's new coalition government, established on May 13, is dominated by politicians who are against the government's policy of maintaining ties with Taiwan, the report said.
RSS