Sat, Dec 04, 1999 page1

• MOFA denies offering Albania US$1bn for ties

  DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS The foreign ministry has denounced news reports detailing a possible cash package in return for ties with Albania as unfounded

  • By Catherine Sung / STAFF REPORTER WITH REUTERS
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  Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Chien-jen (程建?H) yesterday denied reports that Taiwan is ready to give Albania US$1 billion in exchange for diplomatic recognition.

  "I don't know what Peter Cheng (鄭3?[) [envoy at Taiwan's embassy in Macedonia] said during a conversation with the Albanian congressman, but for sure there is no US$1 billion," Chen said.

  "We are pushing for diplomatic ties with many countries in the world. Taiwan is willing to have contact with any countries that want to have relations with us," he said.

  Reuters reported yesterday that Pellumb Shullazi, an Albanian congressman, said Cheng had implied that Taiwan is ready to donate US$1 billion for diplomatic recognition from the impoverished Balkan state.

  Shullazi, who is also vice chairman for the Association of Friendship between Albania and Taiwan, said Cheng had announced he was authorized by Taiwan's government to offer Albania the money.

  "During the conversation, held two days ago in Macedonia, it was implied that their condition is for us to recognize them politically,'' Shullazi, who said he met Cheng with other Albanian parliamentarians, told an Albanian private television channel.

  Chen confirmed that the ministry's diplomatic missions have contacts with Albanian congressmen and "they are very friendly with us," but "they cannot represent their government."

  Cheng could not be reached for comment.

  Meanwhile, Albania's foreign ministry spokesman, Sokol Gjoka, affirmed the country's "one China" policy and dismissed possibilities of forging diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

  "We only recognize one China," Gjoka told Reuters.

  Historically, Albania has maintained strong ties with China.

  Beijing was one of the biggest aid donors to the Balkan state in the 1970s and Tirana actively assisted China in ousting the Republic of China from its UN seat in 1971.

  Macedonia -- Taiwan's only foothold in the Balkan region -- established diplomatic relations with the island in January of this year.

  When Premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) opened a Taiwan-financed export processing zone near the capital of Skopje in August, he offered an aid package of US$80 million, including US$20 million for the construction of public housing, US$31 million to the European Bank for Rehabilitation and Development for the Macedonian portion of the "Balkan Action Plan," and US$10.5 million for infrastructure projects.

  To strengthen its foothold in the region, Taiwan has offered US$300 million in aid to Kosovo for refugee relief and reconstruction.

  So far, Taiwan has delivered an estimated US$4.5 million, of which some US$2 million to US$3 million was disbursed through NGOs and US$2 million was spent donating buses to Kosovo.

  A high-level foreign ministry official in Taipei, who spoke on condition of anonymity, previously said that it is unlikely the island would gain another Eastern or Central European ally in the coming months because of the ministry's financial restraint.

  "Our foreign aid is distributed on a project basis -- meaning the recipient has to submit a concrete plan, after which aid is dispersed incrementally," he said.

  "However, our resources are finite.... We have to use them carefully."
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