In a sign that Taiwan is becoming Albania's diplomatic pawn, the founder of the Association of Friendship between Albania and Taiwan has called on members to avoid any "political functions" in the organization.
In a press conference last Thursday, Neritan Ceka, the founder and honorary president of the Albania-Taiwan association, announced his resignation from his post, citing a shift in China's position toward Albania as the reason for his decision.
Beijing has "expressed the desire to become a serious economic partner with Albania," he said. Ceka, who is also a parliamentarian, called on other legislators and members of the association to withdraw their membership, saying the organization should be stripped of its political functions.
"This association can remain in the business of establishing trade relations with Taiwan, but free of any political stripes," he said.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently denied allegations that it was ready to swap US$1 billion in exchange for diplomatic recognition from Albania.
A Reuters report quoted Pellumb Shullazi, an Albanian legislator and deputy chairman of the association, as saying that Taiwan's envoy in Macedonia, Peter Cheng (
Albania, meanwhile, appears to be playing Taiwan against China in order to gain economic concessions from Beijing.
Albania's defense minister, Luan Hajdaraga, was in China when speculation about the cash-for-ties deal first broke in the news.
The Balkan state's president, Rexhep Meidani, is currently in Beijing at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Jiang Zemin (
Meidani departed for China over the weekend, saying he hopes to increase economic cooperation between Albania and China through Beijing's assistance in the economic restructuring of his nation, Xinhua reported.
Historically, Albania has maintained strong ties with China.
Beijing was one of the biggest aid donors to the Balkan state in the 1970s and Tirana actively assisted China in ousting the Republic of China from the UN in 1971.
But in the Kosovo crisis, in which more than half a million Kosovar Albanians were driven from their homeland, Beijing sided with Yugoslavia and strongly protested against NATO intervention.
Macedonia, Taiwan's only foothold in the Balkan region, established diplomatic relations with the island in January 1999.
To strengthen its presence in the region, Taiwan has offered US$300 million in aid to Kosovo for refugee relief and reconstruction.
So far, Taiwan has delivered an estimated US$4.5 million -- around US$2 million to US$3 million was disbursed through NGOs and US$2 million was spent donating buses to Kosovo.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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