Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (
"During the Gulf War, Taiwan offered enormous financial support," Tien told lawmakers at the legislature yesterday. "And this time, if necessary, Taiwan would be willing to repeat the deed."
But Tien conceded that times are tough and Taiwan may not be able to afford to provide much monetary help.
"Considering Taiwan's current domestic economic situation -- which has been hobbled by three major floods -- we must act according to our ability and take into consideration the feelings of our citizens," he said.
In addition, Tien said that government officials in recent weeks have met with their counterparts from the US State Department for face-to-face talks "at least 10 times."
During those meetings, government officials said Taiwan was willing to contribute to the American-led anti-terrorist campaign, although the US indicated its plans were still on the drawing board.
The US did not inform Taiwan in advance of Sunday's attacks against Afghanistan, Tien said. It wasn't until about 6am yesterday that the American Institute in Taiwan notified the foreign ministry in writing of the strikes, he added.
The foreign minister also said that the US has assured Taiwan that it won't compromise Taiwan's interests as it seeks support from China in its campaign against terrorism.
"The top task of the US government is to handle the anti-terrorism campaign, and the cross-strait issue is not a priority," Tien said. "But the US government has stressed the importance of security across the Taiwan Strait and reiterated that the US will not sacrifice Taiwan's security, either in public or in private."
The foreign minister said that China's support of the US demonstrated Beijing's intentions to improve ties with Washington and its ambition to make the upcoming APEC summit a success.
Beijing has also sought US support for its suppression of separatists in Xinjiang, Tien said.
And despite China's lip-service to the terrorism issue, China also has "other strategic considerations" in mind, Tien said, though he declined to clarify his point.
Tien said Taiwan's policy was to oppose any form of terrorism and the government was determined to play a positive role in the US-led efforts to combat terrorism.
"What we can do is share information, fight money laundering by international terrorists ... as well as provide our judicial cooperation," Tien said.
The foreign ministry has also been in contact with local non-governmental organizations that have expressed interest in providing humanitarian aid to Afghan refugees, Tien said.
As for the 3,450 Taiwanese who live in Middle Eastern countries, Tien said the foreign ministry has plans in place to evacuate them if necessary.
Meanwhile, the National Police Administration has instructed officers to strengthen patrols around foreign embassies and representative offices in Taiwan and increase protection of expatriates -- particularly those from the US and Israel.
In related news, government officials yesterday decided to defer a trip to New York led by Frederick Chien (
Chien was originally scheduled to leave on Thursday to extend Taiwan's condolences to New York City's mayor and relatives of eight Taiwanese believed killed in the Sept. 11 collapse of the World Trade Center.
"The whole plan has been temporarily suspended," said Chen An-lan (
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