China's bullying of Taiwan in a security meeting serves as a clear indication that the Chinese communist regime has never altered its hegemonic designs against Taiwan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Michel Lu (
Lu was referring to the Fourth Asian Security Conference being held in Singapore under the sponsorship by the US-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) since 2000.
He called it hard evidence that the names of the participants from Taiwan, some academics, are listed at the end of the meeting's booklets, which are very likely to be ignored by others, and claimed that China has been using a two-pronged tactic in its dealings with Taiwan by repeatedly avowing goodwill to the country while seeking every means to suppress it.
Under mounting pressure from China, it is increasingly difficult for Taiwan to send ranking officials to take part in the annual conference, sources said, pointing out that Taiwan was still able to dispatch ranking national security officials to the meeting in 2001.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Saturday in the conference that China's authoritarian regime will hobble its booming economy and decrease its influence across the world should it hesitate to launch political reforms.
Rumsfeld also questioned why China deploys hundreds of missiles aimed at Taiwan.
The IISS is an independent think tank focusing on research, discussions and studies on military strategy, arms control, regional security and conflict resolution.
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