Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) has been blocked from attending the Second Mini-sterial Meeting of the Community of Democracies slated to begin in Seoul today, with organizers blaming the rejection on Taiwan's lack of a seat at the UN.
Hoping to gain access to such international democracy foundations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has another idea in mind -- to beef up its effort to set up a publicly funded, non-governmental organization to promote democracy, ministry officials said.
"We want to set up the foundation in a timely manner so that the foundation, in its capacity as a non-governmental organization, may become a partner in this important meeting," an official said.
The Community of Democracies was launched with a ministerial conference in Warsaw in June 2000, where more than 100 democracies pledged to uphold democratic principles as outlined in the Warsaw Declaration.
Members of this global grouping, now operating under the umbrella of the Washington-based Council for a Community of Democracies, shared a joint vision to build and consolidate democracies around the world.
The three-day second ministerial meeting is scheduled to take place in Seoul today.
Participants from Taiwan in the meeting will include DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Shih Hsin University political scientist Huang Jung-hu (黃榮護) and an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' non-governmental organization committee, according to ministry sources.
The Community of Democracies' third ministerial meeting is slated to take place in Chile in 2004 and ministry officials hope the yet-to-be founded democracy foundation in Taiwan will be able to send delegates to the event.
In the ministry's draft budget for the next fiscal year, NT$150 million has been secured for the establishment of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. The bill failed to make it through its first reading at the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee in the legislature last month, with some opposition legislators urging tightened supervision of the foundation's future operations.
But the ministry is ready for another chance to persuade opposition lawmakers during a legislative committee meeting tomorrow, sources said.
According to the draft proposal, the foundation would seek cooperation with like-minded counterparts elsewhere to promote democracy and the rule of law in other countries such as China.
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