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Chen, Ma blast Beijing's interference

President Chen Shui-bian, second left, and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, third from the right, arrive at the Far Eastern Plaza Hotel yesterday, the venue of the opening ceremony of the 5th Plenary Meeting of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21. PHOTO: CNA

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) were in rare agreement yesterday, as they slammed China for its political meddling in a regional meeting of big city mayors.

In a keynote speech to the opening ceremony of the 5th Plenary Meeting of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 (ANMC21) at Taipei's Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, Chen criticized China for continually boycotting meeting sessions of the organization and trying to block Taipei from hosting the meeting this year.

Beijing's abrupt withdrawal as last year's host forced the suspension of the 4th Plenary meeting last November. The Taipei City Government then accepted Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara's proposal to host the summit this year and move the meeting forward from November to this month.

"It [China] disregarded the meeting's resolution, and was unwilling to allow the section giving Taipei priority to be the 2006 host city to appear in the joint declaration," Chen said.

The president thanked Ishihara for his decisive intervention to mediate a resolution and lauded Ma and the city government's hard work that made this week's meeting possible.

While Taiwan is an island country and constantly faced with China's political maneuvering, Chen said the country is determined not to give up.

"We should never close ourselves off from the world, for we are not an isolated island, but rather, an island that embraces the world," he said.

Chen's appearance at the opening ceremony was the first time he and Ma have been together since their April 3 meeting at the Presidential Office.

Ma, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, echoed Chen's denunciation of China's "abrupt withdrawal" and "obstruction" of the meeting.

He also took the occasion to promote his party's efforts to "pave the way, to build the bridge across the Taiwan Strait" to establish the common vision of peace and prosperity that he said all Asia countries shared.

"We'd like to see Taiwan play the role of a responsible stakeholder in the region. We want to be a peacemaker, but not a troublemaker," Ma said.

Later during the ANMC exhibition in the afternoon, Ma responded to Chen's comment that Taiwan should never close itself from the world by urging the president to put his words into action.

The ANMC21, initiated by Ishihara in August 2000 with 12 member cities, aims to unite Asia's major cities by putting aside political or religious differences to establish a cooperative network.

Delegations from Tokyo, New Delhi, Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hanoi, Manila and Yangon attended this year's meeting. Due to Beijing's politicking, however, only Tokyo and Singapore sent their mayors.

The four-day event also features cultural exhibitions and cultural events at Taipei's World Trade Center Hall 2.
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