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Diplomats recalled from Senegal

Following the severing of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Senegal, the staff at the Taiwanese embassy in Senegal and their counterparts in this country will have to return home within one month, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said yesterday.

Lu said Ambassador Huang Yun-cheh (黃允哲) will return to Taipei within three days, while other embassy personnel and agricultural technology corps members -- who are spread around Senegal -- will finish packing their equipment and belongings and return to Taiwan within one month.

Senegal's diplomatic staff in Taipei and about 30 Senegalese students studying here on scholarships provided by Taiwan's government will have to leave the country within one month as well, Lu said in a press conference.

After announcing that it was severing ties with Senegal on Tuesday night, the government immediately stopped all aid programs to the country.

Lu said the manner in which Senegal abandoned Taiwan in favor of China was "crude," referring to the letter Senegalese President Abodoulaye Wade sent to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in which Wade said that between countries, there are no friends, only interests.

"They were extorting us [for money], threatening to opt for China if we didn't give them the amount of money they need," Lu said.

He said although Senegal is a democratic country, its national affairs, including diplomacy, are still centralized in the hands of Wade -- and that Wade, for the sake of his political interests in next year's parliamentary elections, chose China for monetary reasons.

According to the National Security Bureau's calculation, China has promised at least US$600 million in aid to Senegal and infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars, including the construction of a tunnel across the river on the border with Gambia and the development of local mining resources.

Taiwan had refused to invest in Senegal's mining industry because an evaluation showed a lack of local infrastructure, such as railway and port facilities, and the extent of mining resources was unclear.

"We won't compete with China in this kind of checkbook diplomacy," Lu said.

Meanwhile, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said that it would not be helpful for Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) to resign over Senegal's move.

Chen said on Wednesday that he was prepared to step down at any time to take responsibility for the severance of diplomatic ties.

Hsieh said officials "don't have to resign for everything ... it is not the most correct approach."
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