Press corp grills Perng in Brunei

Taiwan's recent political and economic instability took the center stage yesterday during a press conference held by Taiwan's representative to the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Central Bank of China Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南), who attended the two-day APEC leaders' informal meeting on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), held a press conference to discuss Taiwan's information technology progress with interested APEC members.

But Perng soon found himself harangued by reporters who asked questions surrounding the recent political crisis faced by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the plunging stock market, as well as The Economist's prediction of a banking crisis in Taiwan.

Perng said the government simply needed more time to sail through the current difficulties.

"Taiwan has just seen its first transfer of power to another party in the past 55 years. The new-born baby [referring to Chen's administration] is only six-months old, so please give it some time to grow," Perng said.

"I can assure you that a financial crisis won't erupt in Taiwan," Perng said, citing Taiwan's robust foreign exchange reserves and strong trade surplus to defend the government's stance.

But Taiwan is not alone, as many of the political leaders gathering in the oil-rich country for APEC's eighth annual summit face political instability or transition at home.

The results of last week's US presidential election remained undecided, and the governments in Peru, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia all face crises to various degrees.

Meanwhile, the cross-strait issue was another major concern media focused on during the press conference.

When asked if he would meet with Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) during the summit that starts today, Perng was indirect in his answer.

"All APEC leaders will have opportunities to meet one another ... Given the good atmosphere surrounding the summit, any issue conducive to cross-strait relations is worthy of discussion," Perng said.

As to Taiwan's participation in next year's APEC annual meeting in China, Perng said "established precedents" under APEC's umbrella would remain their guide, adding that leaders across the Taiwan Strait would use their "political wisdom" to find a "feasible" solution.

Although China also said it would adhere to "established protocol," both sides remained split as to the definition of the term.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇) said on Sunday that China would send the invitation to Chen via APEC's secretariat.

But the established practice since 1995 -- owing to pressure from Beijing -- is for the host country to dispatch a special envoy to deliver the invitation to Taiwan's president regarding the summit, and then the president appoints someone else to attend the meeting.

Taiwan's president, premier and vice premier have been blocked from any APEC summit.

Perng said all APEC members should attend the meeting "on an equal footing" regardless of their size, and that any member that intends to dominate the forum would be unwelcome.

Later in the day, Perng held talks with Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟) and Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.

Frederic Chang (張平男), vice minister of the Government Information Office, said Goh told Perng that "it's important that the two sides [China and Taiwan] stabilize their relations, which would further facilitate relations between Singapore and Taiwan."