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MOFA chief may travel to Saudi Arabia

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) left for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to offer Taiwan's condolences on the death of King Fahd. The minister also met the new monarch, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, during his stay, a government official told the Taipei Times.

"Chen's trip showed that Taiwan and Saudi Arabia have very good relations with each other," a high-ranking official who wished to remain anonymous said.

The official said the government has refused to confirm the trip for the sake of "protecting the country's interests."

Although the minister successfully arrived in Saudi Arabia as a delegate of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) without being obstructed by the Chinese government, the official said that "you never know when China will do bad things to you."

Later yesterday, Michel Lu (呂慶隆), spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reiterated that he had no comment on this information, which local Chinese-newspapers had reported earlier last week.

While Saudi Arabia is not one of Taiwan's diplomatic allies, the two countries have maintained fairly close and substantial relations.

Taiwan's diplomatic isolation became nearly complete when the US and other foreign backers of the then Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government switched their recognition to the Chinese government in the 1970s. However, Saudi Arabia, a longtime KMT supporter, didn't break off ties with the government until 1990.

Saudi Arabia is Taiwan's biggest source of oil. Also, Taiwan has been looking forward to greater trade cooperation with Saudi Arabia.
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