A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month.
The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing.
Photo: Huang Ching-hsuan, Taipei Times
The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said.
Sun made the remarks when asked about Taiwan’s participation at the APEC meeting this year, after the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it would fulfill its obligations as the host, as long as Taiwan complies with the “one China principle.”
In response, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Nov. 5 said that the government would launch “countermeasures” against China should Beijing insist on asking Taiwan to attend APEC under the “one China principle.”
Taiwan will not accept any political maneuvers aimed at undermining or excluding its participation and would work with like-minded partners to oppose such moves, he added.
Sun yesterday confirmed that Taiwan’s plan to attend the APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting in Shenzhen from Feb. 1 to 10 has not changed.
Over the past year, Taiwan has been in talks with China to make sure the APEC host guarantees Taiwan’s “equal, dignified and safe involvement” in APEC meetings and activities in Shenzhen.
Asked whether Taiwan’s delegates would need to apply for “Taiwan compatriot permits,” Sun said both sides of the Taiwan Strait have agreed to follow a mutually agreed model to facilitate the delegation’s visit.
He declined to provide further details, citing confidentiality.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan
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