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Marshalls President Tomeing to visit

Newly elected Marshall Islands President Litokwa Tomeing has accepted President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) invitation to make a state visit to Taiwan, suggesting a departure from his previous intention to switch diplomatic recognition to China.

"President Chen called President Tomeing [on Wednesday] to offer his congratulations and invite him to visit Taiwan as soon as he has formed his Cabinet, and President Tomeing agreed. Their interaction was cordial and friendly," Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) told a news conference yesterday.

Before legislative elections in November, Tomeing said his country had wronged China by switching recognition from Beijing to Taipei in 1998 and should return its allegiance to China.

However, he has not publicly addressed the issue since being elected president by parliament on Monday.

Huang said yesterday that China had used every conceivable means to sabotage the diplomatic friendship between Taiwan and the Marshall Islands before the legislative elections.

"China will go to any length to lure away the Marshall Islands. We are still on high alert," he said.

Chen called Tomeing late on Wednesday to congratulate him on his election and said Taiwan would continue its aid program to the Marshall Islands, estimated at US$14 million annually.

He also said Taiwan was willing to bail out the Marshall Islands' national airline, which has suspended operations for three months because of mechanical problems with its aircraft.

Tomeing said he looked forward to visiting Taiwan, expressing hope that "we will have an opportunity to talk and discuss issues that will make both of our peoples happy."

In the conversation listened to by reporters, Tomeing also said his country welcomed a planned naval visit by Taiwanese ships in March.

Tomeing on Wednesday named Tony deBrum as foreign minister in another sign that the Marshall Islands may retain its diplomatic relations with Taiwan because he crafted the move to switch recognition to Taipei a decade ago.

DeBrum declined to comment on Wednesday about earlier threats by Tomeing to switchrecognition to Beijing.

In related developments, Huang said that the government would reshuffle several consular heads to create a "proactive diplomatic team" as Taiwan is facing severe challenges given China's attempts to "beguile the nation's allies."

Huang said that heads of consulates traditionally characterized as "benign, upright, courteous, temperate and complaisant" will be replaced.

"Those who are sticklers for routine and who are only capable of fulfilling their duties as officers during peace time fall short of the ministry's requirements for a proactive diplomatic team," Huang said.

Huang also commented on rumors of shaky diplomatic ties with Malawi.

"All signs indicate that China is likely to use dirty tricks before or after Saturday's election to weaken public morale," he said.

"China may also launch diplomatic assaults when our senior officials travel overseas to damage the government's reputation," he said.

Huang was referring to the president's plan to attend the inauguration of Guatemalan president-elect Alvaro Colom on Monday.

Huang refused to specify whether Malawi would be China's latest target.

"None of the diplomatic ties between Taiwan and its 24 allies should be taken lightly," he said.

"We continue to view our relations with Malawi positively," he said.
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