The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denied a report that claimed it had ordered Taiwan's representative offices in the Middle East to evacuate Taiwanese for fear of an impending US attack in the region.
"As of now, there is no plan to evacuate overseas Taiwanese," a press release from the foreign ministry stated.
The statement said that the ministry had notified its representative offices in the Middle East to keep close contacts with local governments, keep on top of the latest developments in their posted countries, map out contingency plans and stay in contact with Taiwanese businessmen in their areas.
About 2,600 Taiwanese are currently based in Middle Eastern countries, said Francis Chang (
"We are on high alert," a diplomat based in Tel Aviv, who declined to be named, told the Taipei Times.
The diplomat in Israel said foreign delegations to Tel Aviv are watching closely to see whether Arab countries will launch a war against Israel should the US attack Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is believed to be based -- thus beginning a wider conflict in the region.
"If Arab countries do not begin a war against Israel, then it's unlikely that we would evacuate Taiwanese [in the Middle East]," he said.
By the end of last week, the CIA indicated that the training camps of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda group throughout the Middle East were empty of their fighters in anticipation of a likely attack by the US.
Yang Rung-tsao (楊榮藻), Taipei's top representative to Israel, is currently on vacation overseas and could not be reached for comment.
A Taiwanese diplomat based in Manama, Bahrain, said: "We are very cautious now."
Six members of the Gulf Coordination Council (GCC) have exercised "stricter" checks along the borders and in the airports in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks against the US, the diplomat said.
Established in accordance with an agreement concluded in 1981 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the GCC consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
About 2,300 Taiwanese reside in Saudi Arabia, followed by about 100 stationed in the United Arab Emirates, Chang said.
Foreign ministry records indicate that no Taiwanese are based in Afghanistan or Iraq, although about five or six people are in Iran.
"Fifteen Taiwanese at most are in Pakistan, although details remain pending," Chang said.
Five local television companies have dispatched journalists to Pakistan in anticipation of US-led military action against Afghanistan.
Five or six Taiwanese are in Oman, around 30 in Bahrain, and 15 in Syria, foreign ministry records showed.
There are about 30 Taiwanese in Kuwait, 35 in Israel, 75 in Jordan, 40 in Turkey and about five in Cyprus, according to ministry records.
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