Chien praises European resolution

Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) yesterday expressed his appreciation to the European Parliament for passing a resolution he said would improve relations between Taiwan and the EU.

"The resolution shows that European leaders are concerned about peace and security in the Taiwan Strait, and it clearly showed their opposition to Beijing's military threats against Taiwan," Chien said.

The resolution, passed on Thursday, says that visits to Europe by high-level Taiwanese officials should not be limited to those traveling in a private capacity, calls for the resumption of cross-strait dialogue and urges China to remove the missiles along its coast directed toward Taiwan.

"Following the pledge by US President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage recently that the issue over the Taiwan Strait must be solved through peaceful means, the European Parliament expressed the same stance," Chien said.

"This means it is the consensus of the United States and the European community that `the Communist Party of China should abandon military force and both sides of the Strait should conduct rational communication and peaceful dialogue,'" he said.

He said that although the resolution is non-binding on EU member governments, Beijing would have to pay attention "because the resolution reflects the view of 370 million people in Europe on the Taiwan issue ..."

Ministry spokeswoman Katharine Chang (張小月) said that the resolution would also put pressure on European governments to allow President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and other high-ranking officials to travel to Europe.

"The freedom of travel is a basic human right and no democratic government should" deny this right, Chang said.

"President Chen and Minister Chien once vowed that democracy, peace and economics are the three pillars on which to develop Taiwan's diplomatic relations," she said. "The [European Parliament's] decision clearly shows that it really respects Taiwan's economic power, which is ranked 16th in the world."

Meanwhile, Chang said that the ministry was still negotiating with the US about sending a delegation to New York City for the first anniversary ceremony of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"The New York government told us that it just invites the heads of state or representatives of members of the United Nations," Chang said.

"However, we have explained to them that Taiwan is qualified to participate in such an important international occasion because Taiwanese were also victims of the Sept. 11 incident and the Taiwan government has been devoted to anti-terrorist action during the past year," she said. "Therefore, the ministry believes that Taiwan will be invited eventually."