Chinese officials are opposed to Koo Chen-fu (
The meeting is to take place in Shanghai in October. Scholars in Taiwan have urged Chen to send Koo to the forum, in the hopes that he could meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Daohan (
China opposes Koo's attendance because Beijing leaders don't want the elder statesman talking with his counterparts on the sidelines of the conference.
China's opposition is a part of a broader effort to take a uncompromising, hard-line against Chen's administration.
Koo, an influential industrialist, has attended an APEC forum once before, on behalf of former president Lee Teng-hui (
In yesterday's report, an unnamed Chinese official was quoted as saying that before Taiwan recognizes the "one China" principle, Koo, head of the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation, would not be allowed to visit China.
The Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday that Beijing had no right to decide who attends APEC forums on the behalf of Taiwan.
"As a host country, China should respect the rules of the game and welcome delegates from member states of the regional economic body," said vice chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通).
"If President Chen finds it inconvenient to attend the meeting in person, he is entitled to appoint a delegate," the council official said. "Beijing should respect his discretion instead of seeking to interfere."
The Presidential Office said Chen has not made a final decision on who to send to the summit, which is two-and-a-half months away.
On the eve of his first anniversary in office on May 20, Chen expressed his wish to attend the Shanghai meeting and to talk with Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
Chen said his administration has approached the cross-strait dispute with sincerity and creativity and called on his Chinese counterpart to "be open and bold" in reciprocating his goodwill.
But Beijing rejected the gesture, as its foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan (
Tang said that Chen's attendance would violate a memorandum of understanding among member states which also include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Japan, Singapore, the US, Indonesia, Russia, New Zealand, Peru, Mexico, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong.
The Chinese diplomat added that Beijing would not resume a dialogue with Taipei before Chen agrees to embrace the "one China" condition.
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