A top official said yesterday Taiwan may have better luck at the APEC annual meeting in Thailand this October because changes to Asia's political atmosphere will ensure there is no repeat of the 2000 and 2001 talks, during which Chinese bullying reduced Taiwan's role to that of a bystander.
"Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will relinquish his power in September, and Thailand's state leader [Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra] expects to succeed Mahathir as the head of ASEAN, therefore it is essential that the APEC meeting this year is successful," the official, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
"We believe that at the APEC meeting this year, the host country will not give in to China or allow the Chinese representative to embarrass Taiwan during the meeting," the official said, citing the Thai government's wish to appear the dominant force in Southeast Asian politics as the reason a more organized summit is likely.
The official said that, while the media had been trying to uncover who will attend the meetings as President Chen Shui-bian's (
The official said the government's main concern was monitoring the state of international politics and especially the relationship between the US, China and Taiwan.
"So far the public has named KMT Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (
"However, as is the custom, Chen will only announce the representative after the host country sends out the invitation, and that procedure starts in mid-September," the official said.
The official said that this year Taiwan would have no difficulty choosing a suitable representative because there are many competent candidates. He said that in the past the KMT would not allow Siew to represent the government, however, this year the party would probably not dare to stop him from doing so.
The official said that Lee had performed well when he went abroad on behalf of the president last year, and there would not be any problem if he represented the government again.
Meanwhile, a source from the National Security Council (NSC) said the government was concerned with whether the APEC meeting would strengthen ties between the US and China, as happened during recent negotiations among China, the US, Japan, Russia, South Korea and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
"The Chinese government will certainly use the [APEC meeting] to promote [Chinese President] Hu [Jintao (胡錦濤)], especially during the meeting between [US President George W.] Bush and Hu," the source said.
"Taiwan needs to analyze any consequences the meeting may bring about and be prepared to deal with them," he added.
The source said that Chen hoped to make a number of breakthroughs during his diplomatic visit to the US in October -- deliver public speeches, meet with important political figures and focus on interactions between himself and other important international figures, including the Chinese president.
"In the issue of [Chen] receiving better treatment in the US, the relationship between the US and China is an important variable. No matter the outcome of the six-way negotiations over North Korea, the whole process has obviously improved relations between the US and China and created a good atmosphere for the meeting between Bush and Hu," the source said.
"Since there is probably going to be another round of talks over the North Korean issue in mid-October, Taiwan needs to plan ahead to prevent Chen's visit from going down as a damp squib."
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