President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) appointment of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) as his special envoy to the 2008 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting was made with Beijing’s consent, US cables released by WikiLeaks show.
A cable dated Dec. 5, 2008, from the US embassy in Beijing shows that Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Vice Chairman Sun Yafu (孫亞夫) confirmed such speculation when he cited it as an example of China’s goodwill toward Taiwan.
In the cable, Sun Yafu admitted at a meeting with US officials that China is “hesitant” to grant Taiwan international space because of concerns over the “one China” issue.
Photo: CNA
“Nevertheless, China has been ‘careful’ on the issue and has ‘shown restraint’ in order to avoid offending Taiwan,” Sun said,
He pointed to China’s “low-key” approach to Ma’s transit in the US in August of that year as a “tacit acceptance” of Ma’s request for a “diplomatic ceasefire,” as well as the approval of Lien as Taiwan’s APEC envoy as examples of this “restraint.”
In another cable dated Nov. 25, 2008, issued by the embassy, a visiting US expert was quoted as saying that Taiwan Affairs Office Director Wang Yi (王毅) told him during a meeting on Oct. 31 that China had approved Taiwan’s appointment of Lien as Ma’s APEC envoy.
“Wang specifically pointed to the approval of Lien as Taiwan’s APEC envoy in response to a charge that the PRC [People’s Republic of China] had done nothing on the international space issue,” the expert, who was not named, was quoted as saying in the cable.
The cable quoted remarks made by Peking University’s Jia Qingguo (賈慶國) to embassy officials that Lien’s participation at APEC was a “big deal.”
“Jia expressed concern that a future DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] administration would demand similar treatment, quipping that the prospect of former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) attending APEC was ‘not a pleasant thought,’” the cable said.
Another academic, Peng Weixue (彭維學) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in the cable that the approval of Lien was because of the “comfort level” Chinese leaders have with him personally, as well as the general improvement in cross-strait relations.
“Because of frequent contacts since 2005, Chinese leaders have built up a sufficient level of trust in Lien, making him an acceptable candidate. That may not have been the case had Ma Ying-jeou nominated someone else,” Peng said.
When asked by the Taipei Times to comment, Presidential Office spokesman Fan Chiang Chi-tai (范姜基泰) said only that it is the president who appoints the APEC envoy.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS