Taiwan's ambassador to Macedonia visited high-ranking government officials yesterday in a bid to secure ties between the two countries, while Vice Foreign Minister Chiou Jong-nan (
Ambassador Peter Cheng (鄭博久) met with several members of the new Macedonian government, including Vice President of the Government Bedredin Ibrahimi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Risto Blazevski, and Chief of the Cabinet Flora Kastrati, among others, according to Taiwan's embassy in Skopje.
Macedonia's coalition government was established on May 13 and is composed of seven political parties.
Sources inside the embassy also told the Taipei Times that Chiou is scheduled to visit Skopje to firm up ties between the two nations.
One foreign ministry official said that earlier statements by Macedonian officials on their government's intention to switch ties to Beijing were simply "dissonance" within the government.
"Every party in the government has held dissonant stances on various issues, including ties with Taiwan. So it's unavoidable that we'll hear some `noise,'" the official said.
The comments the official was referring to include a statement by Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva on May 25. According to the Utrinski Vesnik newspaper, Mitreva said "the establishment of diplomatic relations with ... Taiwan two years ago was a blunder by Macedonian diplomats at the time.
"Two years have been wasted. And my position concerning the People's Republic of China is that this country, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is a friend that constantly supports us," Mitreva was quoted as saying.
That report came one day after Zoran Jolevski, the director of Macedonia's presidential office, departed for Beijing for a one-week visit, for what are said to be discussions on re-establishing ties between Skopje and Beijing.
Boris Trajkovski, an advisor to Macedonia's president, on Sunday also pressed for the switch of ties to Beijing.
Meanwhile, some in Skopje said Macedonia would re-establish diplomatic relations with China, eventually.
"Sooner or later [it'll happen], and pretty soon," said Carol Chang (張桂越), a Taiwanese journalist based in Skopje for two years. Chang cited three key elements behind Skopje's likely change of attitude.
The first was the withdrawal from the government last November of a political party that was friendly to Taipei and the integration into the coalition government of parties opposed to Taiwan ties, Chang said.
The second was the ongoing conflict between ethnic Albanian terrorists and government forces that erupted in February. "The government has got to put the handling of national defense as its top priority and China's position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council is seen as important in helping solve the conflict," Chang said.
The third is that, given Macedonia's dependence on the EU and US, the fact that these powers recognize Beijing could pressure Skopje to stay in tune with these countries.
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