Two Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials are slated to leave for Geneva this week for a talk with the World Trade Organization (WTO) director-general on the dispute over Taiwan's representation to the body, sources said.
"Our meeting with the WTO director-general is expected to take place next week," said Yen Ching-chang (
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (
Liu yesterday confirmed his upcoming trip to Switzerland although he was tight-lipped over details regarding their departure as well as the talk with Supachai.
The meeting represents Taiwan's latest diplomatic attempt to secure its status at the WTO, which was put at risk following Supachai's "five-point" request on Feb. 12.
The first point was to change the English title of Taiwan's permanent mission to the WTO to "Office of Permanent Representative" in the WTO directory.
The publication of the so-called "Blue Book," which is supposed to be updated in April, has been delayed due to the dispute, Yen said.
The second point was to urge Taiwan to change its diplomatic titles on name cards and letterheads.
Yen said the third point asked the WTO Secretariat to "use only sovereignty-neutral terminology when referring to Taiwan," avoiding terms like country or state.
The fourth asked the secretariat to reserve the right to change in all documents any terminology that was not sovereignty-neutral.
The fifth, a message that was also passed on to the Swiss government, was "to affirm that the actions regarding WTO representation of Taiwan have no implications for sovereignty."
Neither Yen nor Liu would reveal in detail Taipei's position on the upcoming negotiation with Supachai, although both said Taiwan's national dignity must be protected.
The WTO has declined to comment on the dispute since it was first leaked to the press last month.
Yen has not met with Supachai since their talk in mid-February, although John Deng (
Officials have taken their lobbying effort in the dispute to Washington, Bern and Southeast Asian capitals.
Following Yen's return to Taipei for a national security meeting on the dispute chaired by President Chen Shui-bian (
The two diplomats are Stanley Kao (高碩泰), one of the two deputy representatives to the WTO, as well as Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡), chief of the Taipei Cultural and Economic mission in Geneva, sources said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard