China’s reaction to Taiwan's attempts to forge closer ties with ASEAN could be a yardstick of its goodwill toward Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that Beijing had been the major obstacle to Taipei developing multilateral relations with other nations in the region.
“We will find appropriate means to communicate to Beijing our desire to be more involved with ASEAN. We believe under the current climate of improved cross-strait relations that this is a good time to promote relations with our neighboring countries,” said Victor Yu (于德勝), head of the ministry's Department of East Asia and Pacific Affairs.
Yu said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had stressed on many occasions that bolstering Taiwan’s status in Southeast Asia was of equal importance as its relations with the West.
“Throughout the years, Taiwan has built up friendships with ASEAN countries through trade, education and cultural exchanges. Some countries have acknowledged that the strength of their relations with Taiwan far exceeds those with many of their allies,” he said.
Taiwan's involvement with ASEAN is part of the government’s effort to expand the country's international space — efforts that have long been blocked by Beijing.
Yu said he believed the issue would be discussed in future cross-strait dialogues.
Because of its geographical location, Taiwan is not qualified to be part of ASEAN, he said, but the government would continue to seek ways to foster closer ties with the region, such as inking free-trade agreements to enjoy the duty-free privileges offered to ASEAN's dialogue partners.
The ASEAN charter has been ratified by all 10 member countries and will become effective next September. China is part of the “ASEAN plus three,” which includes South Korea and Japan.
At the ASEAN ministerial meeting held in Singapore in July, foreign ministers from the member countries publicly touted and welcomed recent cross-strait developments, saying they hoped relations would continue to improve.
Yu said Taiwan hopes to be a contributing player in the region and is willing to provide humanitarian assistance, for instance, in the food shortage that several Southeast Asian nations are facing.
The ministry is scheduled to establish a special task force comprising experienced diplomats and academicians familiar with the region to push for closer Taiwan-ASEAN ties. The task force will operate independently under the guidance of the foreign ministry, he said.
Separately, Yu said Taipei was monitoring the upcoming presidential election in Palau, adding that bilateral ties between the two countries would remain strong regardless of which candidate wins next month.
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