Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (
"High-ranking Chinese leaders have conducted state visits rather frequently lately. Faced with this scenario, leaders in Taiwan can't just stay at home and never leave the country," Tien said at yesterday's press conference.
"If there is an opportunity, high-ranking officials should make state visits overseas."
Immediately after the new year, China's Vice President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇) and National People's Congress Chairman Li Peng (李鵬) visited a total of 12 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.
In response, analysts said Taiwan should be aware that China was attempting to counter the US' superpower status and curb support for Taiwan.
Reflecting on the past eight months since he took over as foreign minister, Tien said that Beijing's attempts to corner Taiwan internationally were increasing.
"Every evening I have been taking home reports and telegrams from overseas offices, only to get the feeling that China's suppression is deepening and is in no way diminishing," the foreign minister said.
When asked by the Taipei Times whether China's obstruction caused the delayed inauguration of Taipei's economic and cultural office in Egypt, and Cairo's trade office in Taiwan, Tien said, "There was indeed some pressure from the mainland side," while adding that related work was still underway.
Tien announced on Dec. 8 that Taipei and Cairo had agreed to set up economic and cultural offices on a reciprocal basis by the end of last year, after having cut diplomatic ties for 44 years.
Because Egypt has been a major strategic partner of China in the Arab and African world, analysts have looked on the agreement between Taipei and Cairo as having great significance in diplomatic terms.
But. to date, the foreign ministry has not announced the inauguration date for these offices.
While China's self-confidence is growing, Taiwan's diplomatic space in the international arena is increasingly challenged, Tien said.
"We must stand in combat-readiness (
Meanwhile, Tien also stressed that Taiwan should strengthen ties with the US under the new president-elect George W. Bush and seek what he termed a "high level of mutual trust and interaction" between the two sides.
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