Mon, Jan 05, 2004 page1

• International body accepts `Taiwan'

  NAME GAME The International Association of Chiefs of Police, ignoring a possible backlash from China, accepted the official change from `Taiwan, China' to `Taiwan'

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  Despite China's audacious political maneuvers, Taiwan has managed to change its national title at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) from "Taiwan, China" to "Taiwan."

  "Due to China's pressure and maneuvers, our group members at the IACP were forced to change the name of their country of origin from the `Republic of China' to `Taiwan, China' in November, 2001," said a Cabinet official who asked not to be named.

  "The use of our national flag was also denied at all occasions," he said.

  To voice the nation's utmost displeasure with China's audacity, the official said that the Cabinet ordered a boycott of the organization's annual conference in 2002 and filed a letter of protest.

  After months of haggling and negotiations, members finally managed to change the national title and the use of national flags was restored during the IACP's last annual conference in Philadelphia in October last year, the official said.

  "We've been keeping a very low profile in a bid to avert any further unnecessary hassles from China," the Cabinet official said.

  Founded in 1893, the IACP is the world's oldest and largest non-profit organization of police executives. The organization has over 19,000 members and its membership now represents 101 countries.

  The organization holds observer status with the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol, and consultative status with the UN.

  Taiwan joined the IACP in 1985, one year after the nation was elbowed out of Interpol by China in September, 1984 when China became a member state.

  Established in 1923, Interpol's headquarters was located in Vienna and comprised of the General Assembly, the Executive Committee, the General Secretariat, the National Central Bureaus, and the Advisers.

  The headquarters of Interpol moved to Paris, France in 1946 and then relocated to Lyons in October, 1989, where it remains to this day. The number of its member states has reached more than 181.

  Taiwan joined Interpol in 1961 and formed the Criminal Investigation Bureau under the National Police Administration in 1979.

  Despite the upsetting withdrawal from Interpol, the Criminal Investigation Bureau is still in close contact with the organization.

  Interpol's fundamental role is to facilitate communication, which is accomplished by fostering a continuing exchange between countries and circulating new messages, memos and notices on a daily basis.

  According to Chris Chang (章文正), International Criminal Affairs Division chief of the Criminal Investigation Bureau under the National Police Administration, the administration is a member of two international organizations: the IACP and the International Association of Airport and Seaport Police (IAASP).

  The IAASP was formed in 1969 as a non-governmental and non-profit association. It is registered in the province of British Columbia, Canada and Washington state in the US.

  The organization is dedicated to bringing together representatives of police administrations, other enforcement agencies and sectors of the transportation industry involved in the movement of cargo at airports and seaports around the world.

  The association has served in a consultative capacity with the UN, the US Senate and the Canadian Ministry of Transport as well as other organizations.
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