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Minister berates Malawi for `cheating and lying'

Malawi's ties with Beijing are nothing short of fraudulent, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) said yesterday, one day after the African country switched recognition to China and dropped its 42-year friendship with Taiwan in exchange for a reported US$6 billion financial package.

"We have decided to switch from Taiwan to mainland China after careful considerations of the benefits that we will be getting from mainland China," said Malawian Foreign Minister Joyce Hilda Banda on Monday in Lilongwe, adding that ties between China and Malawi actually began on Dec. 28 when both sides agreed to the alliance.

Huang, currently on a five-day visit to Central America and the Caribbean with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), accused Lilongwe of "cheating and lying" to the Taiwanese public.

Huang said the ministry was fully aware of the China-Malawi deal last month and "this is why I tried to visit Malawi, hoping the government would clarify its stance" before Saturday's legislative elections.

Huang was turned away by Lilongwe as he was transiting through Johannesburg two weeks ago. Banda at that time told Huang the government could not receive him because of a national holiday.

At yesterday's weekly briefing, ministry spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) lambasted Malawi for helping China "humiliate" Taiwan and said Malawi had behaved like a liar over the last few weeks.

Just earlier this month, after Malawi had agreed to dump Taiwan, Malawian Ambassador Thengo Maloya accepted Huang's invitation to go on an outing to Chihpen in southern Taiwan.

On the outing, Maloya reportedly reassured Huang that Taiwan-Malawi ties remained stable even though Lilongwe had already made the switch.

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika was in Taipei three months ago for the Taiwan-African summit, where he reiterated his country's support for Taiwan's bid to join several global organizations.

The Malawi embassy in Tianmu has already disconnected its telephone and Maloya has been unavailable for comment in the last few days.

All diplomatic affairs and Taiwanese government sponsored aid projects immediately ceased after the break. Yeh said it was the hope of the government that all non-governmental relationships between the two countries would be allowed to continue.

"We want our allies to know that we are different from Beijing because we offer only our utmost and sincere friendship," Yeh said.

Meanwhile, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega reportedly told Chen that China had intensified its pressure on Managua to ditch Taiwan.

"It is not news that China has tried to steal Taiwan's allies. But we are doing everything we can to shore up ties with our existing allies," Yeh said when asked about the rumors that other countries, such as the Marshall Islands and Guatemala, were leaning toward Beijing.

Meanwhile, the Malawian media yesterday slammed the government for shrouding the diplomatic switch in secrecy and warned it to be wary of its new ally.

"The memorandum of understanding to establish diplomatic relations with China was signed on December 28 but the country was only told yesterday [Monday]. Why the secrecy, we dare ask?" an editorial in the Nation newspaper said. "Why keep the nation in the dark for over two weeks? What was happening behind the curtains that necessitated keeping the matter under wraps?"

The Nation said the manner in which "we have severed ties with Taiwan leaves a lot to be desired. Our friend of 42 years has been humiliated. It is the suddenness and lack of civility that we find problematic."

The Daily Times, another independent newspaper, cautioned the government to "avoid demonizing ROC [the Republic of China] which has assisted us for many years and in many ways."

It also warned that Malawi should "tread cautiously on how to deal with our new-found friend in this biblical David-versus-Goliath relationship," saying the country should learn from "experiences" its neighbors have had with Beijing.

Additional reporting by AFP
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