Taiwan rejected the arrival of the torch by the arranged route to protect the nation's sovereignty and dignity, Liu said.
"But we will continue to negotiate the torch relay route and to monitor Beijing's attitude about it," Liu said.
President Chen Shui-bian (
At a separate event, Premier Su Tseng-chang (
"Taiwan is a member of the International Olympic Committee. As a member of the committee, we must be treated equally and with respect," Su said. "Unfortunately, China has been seeking all kinds of opportunities to degrade and belittle us. This is unacceptable."
The premier said that the government had been trying to negotiate the issue, but China rejected any such talks.
Su said that Taiwan's athletes would withdraw from the 2008 Olympics if China belittled Taiwan in any way, such as referring to the country as "China, Taipei."
"We will participate under the name `Chinese Taipei,' but we will never accept the name `China, Taipei,'" he said.
Taiwan's rejection marked the first time that an IOC member has declined to be included in the relay route since the torch relay started in 1920 for the Olympics in Brussels.
An analyst in Taiwan said that Beijing could easily settle the issue by agreeing to have the torch come to Taipei from Pyongyang, North Korea, before continuing to Ho Chi Minh City.
China's media heralded the planned route as the "Relay of Friendship."
In addition to Taiwan's objections to the route, the proposal also sparked an outcry from Tibetan independence activists, who slammed the IOC for helping China reinforce its control over Tibet.
Activists are angry that Tibet will be included in the relay, which will pass through Lhasa and scale Mount Everest.
Five US citizens staged a protest at Everest base camp on Wednesday to call for the Himalayan region's independence.
additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
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