Ministry takes WTO fight to Geneva

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 (顏慶章), Taiwan's permanent representative to the WTO, in a phone interview Friday night.

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (高英茂) and Liu Jung-chuo (劉榮座), director-general of the ministry's department of economic and trade affairs, will fly to Geneva to join Yen for the meeting with WTO chief Supachai Panitchpakdi, Yen said.

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 (鄧振中), one of Yen's deputies, has joined a senior adviser of the National Security Council for a talk with Supachai during the adviser's trip to Geneva, insiders said.

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 (陳水扁) late last month, two Geneva-based diplomats also returned to Taipei for briefings on the issue, sources said.

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.