President Chen Shui-bian (
Beijing has refused to issue an invitation to Chen's chosen representative to attend this weekend's leaders' summit, former vice president Li Yuan-zu (
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
As a result, no one from Taiwan will be attending the informal gathering of 21 APEC leaders.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"While recognizing the importance of taking part in such activities, we should not allow our national dignity to be disparaged," Chen said.
Chen made the remarks during a televised speech that was broadcast nationwide yesterday.
Before Chen spoke, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) said because of China's refusal to issue an invitation, Taiwan would have no choice but to be absent from the meeting.
The president expressed his regret and dismay over China's departure from established APEC practices. Every year, the host country dispatches to Taiwan a special envoy to deliver an invitation to the informal leaders' meeting -- but this year China failed to do so.
"China has neglected its responsibilities and obligations as an APEC host economy," Chen said. "It has undermined its stature as a major player on the world stage and harmed the normalization of cross-strait relations."
Chen said that China at every turn had consistently attempted to block Taiwan's participation in this year's APEC meetings in order to demean its status.
Still, Taiwan continued to patiently negotiate with China for the sake of maintaining harmony in cross-strait relations.
"In violation of established APEC practices and protocol, China contacted us about sending representatives to ministerial meetings simply by faxing unsigned notices without specifying the names of the recipients," Chen said.
The president also said that China's behavior was at odds with its role as the host of the APEC meetings and was detrimental to the interests of cross-strait harmony and hurt the feelings of the people of Taiwan.
"Considering the difficulties, interference and suppression we have experienced this year, I call on the APEC member economies to jointly condemn China's behavior and prevent such an occurrence from happening again."
In addition, the president noted that China's handling of the representation issue showed its true colors. "I believe China has hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people and we have gained a deeper understanding and awareness of the real nature of China's policy toward Taiwan," he said.
In closing his speech, Chen said China should be more open-minded. "The sabotage of Taiwan's participation in this APEC meeting will only increase feelings of resentment, resulting in a negative impact on cross-strait relations. China should adjust its attitude and adopt constructive measures to facilitate future interactions between the two sides in international settings."
China had refused to accept Li as Chen's envoy, saying only Cabinet-level ministers with a background in economics could attend.
To bolster its argument, China said that memoranda of understanding signed in 1991 stipulated that only economic decision makers could participate at APEC.
But Tien and Yu Shyi-kun, secretary-general to the president, took issue with China's reasoning.
They noted that the first informal leaders' meeting wasn't held until 1993, two years after the 1991 memoranda of understanding were signed. "The memoranda of understanding only governs Taiwan's participation in ministerial meetings and does not apply to informal summits, which were adopted in 1993," Yu said.
Yu also said that China's behavior during this year's meetings wouldn't prevent Taiwan from participating in future meetings.
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