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Chen urges APEC to condemn China

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday sent a letter to Pacific Rim leaders urging them to "condemn" China's refusal of Taipei's chosen representative at the two-day APEC summit in Shanghai, a move the US said was "a loss" for all participants.

"It is with deepest regret that Chinese Taipei is not able to join you to participate in this year's APEC informal economic leaders' meeting," Chen said in the letter addressed to leaders of other members of the grouping.

"I ... call on the member economies of APEC to jointly condemn China's behavior and prevent such an occurrence from happening again," Chen said.

The letter was issued as Taipei's delegation to the ministerial-level meeting left Shanghai yesterday morning amid dismay over China's refusal to allow Li Yuan-zu (李元簇), senior advisor to the president and a former vice president, to attend the summit on Chen's behalf.

"I wish, on behalf of the people of Taiwan, to express to you our profound disappointment and great rage at not being invited by the People's Republic of China, the host economy, to attend this very important meeting," a press release quoted the president's letter as saying.

"China's refusal to issue an invitation to me and send a special envoy to deliver the invitation, which is against established APEC practices, has caused our inability to attend," the letter stated. "Without an invitation to the meeting from the host, I trust that you can understand no guest can attend such a meeting with dignity."

The US expressed disappointment over Taiwan's absence at the summit.

"We are disappointed that Taiwan was not able to attend this year's leaders' meeting. Taiwan has long been an important participant and contributor to the APEC process. Its absence from this year's leaders' meeting will be a loss for all participants," a US State Department release said.

"We have supported, as in the past, Taiwan's participation in a meetings at appropriate senior levels. We do not see this as a precedent for future APEC meetings and expect Taiwan will attend next year's leaders' meeting," the statement said.

On countering terrorism, Chen reiterated Taiwan's stance on cooperating with other APEC members in related areas such as intelligence exchange, anti-money-laundering measures and energy security mechanisms.

The US without hesitation urged Taiwan to adhere to decisions on countering terrorism expected to be announced at the end of the APEC summit today.

"We appreciate President Chen's statement of support of global counter-terrorism and his affirmation of Taiwan's willingness to implement the decisions that APEC leaders will reach [today]," the state department said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao (朱邦造) said yesterday China should not be blamed for the disagreement.

He said ties between Taipei and Beijing would be contingent upon Taiwan's attitude to the "one China" principle, a formula Taipei has dismissed.

Chen Po-chih (陳博志), chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, said Taiwan would benefit more by paying attention to substantive issues within APEC instead of playing politics with Beijing.

Analysts held mixed views on Taipei's absence from the summit.

"China holds the cards, and a failure by Taiwan to show up only hurts Taipei," argued Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu-based think tank.

"Some could also see this as an attempt by Chen to upstage the meeting or complicate the US-China meeting, which would detract from his image in the US and help turn the current administration against him."

Jane Skanderup, program director at Pacific Forum CSIS, also said that Taiwan had more to lose than China.

"The game of who is attending is seen by both sides as win or lose, and Taiwan has only to lose by playing this game. Chen shouldn't take Beijing's bait of playing politics," she said.
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