Wed, Dec 12, 2007 page3

• Young liberals decry PRC block

  OBSTRUCTION A local group said China pressured host country Bosnia to refuse visas to prevent them from participating in an international gathering

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  Chinese pressure prevented a Taiwanese group from participating in an international event in Bosnia and Herzegovina this week, the Taiwan Young Democratic Union (TYDU) said yesterday.

  TYDU chairman Vincent Chou (周榆修) said that the union has obtained candidate membership at the International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY), which is holding its annual meeting and a seminar in Sarajevo from last Sunday until tomorrow.

  The organizer is scheduled to introduce new candidate members at the event, but the Bosnian government bowed to Chinese pressure and refused to issue visas to Taiwanese delegation members, Chou said, adding that the union was told to obtain "Taiwanese compatriot travel documents" (台胞證) from China.

  

  Vincent Chou, left, chairman of the Taiwan Youth Democratic Union, holds up a document at a press conference in Taipei yesterday. Chou accused Beijing of pressuring Sarajevo to prevent the union from joining a conference of the International Federation of Liberal Youth in Bosnia.

  PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

  "The organizer told us they were deeply sorry about what happened," he said.

  "When I asked them if there was anything that could be done, they told me they didn't have any idea [what could be done]," he said.

  Chou said that staffers at the Bosnian embassy in Vienna disclosed that Sarajevo and Beijing had signed an agreement in September that Bosnia would no longer recognize Taiwanese passports.

  Chou said the incident reflected the fact that there was no such thing as "one China, with each side having its own interpretation (一中各表)."

  Chou Yung-hong (周永鴻), director of the Democratic Progressive Party's Department of Youth Development, voiced the same opinion, saying that the so-called consensus on "one China, with each side having its own interpretation" only means "one China, one visa" because Beijing recognizes only Chinese visas and demands that other countries follow suit.

  He added that he suspected Chinese interference in Bosnia was a reaction to IFLRY's passage of a resolution in July supporting Taiwan's UN referendum and the country's campaign to join the UN under the name "Taiwan."

  Another reason may be that Taiwan has managed to become a candidate for memebership in the IFLRY, he said.

  Chou Yung-hong said that the union did not know they would be denied entry to Bosnia until they were on the plane to Austria.

  "We would not have boarded the plane had we not been invited or told that there would be problem with our visas," he said.

  Because IFLRY is a full member of Liberal International, Chou Yung-hong said that Taiwan's accession to the youth body had touched a nerve in Beijing because Liberal International has long been supportive of Taiwan's democratization.

  IFLRY has more than 90 member organizations worldwide. To become a full member of IFLRY, an organization must first apply for candidate membership. After a year, the organization's General Assembly may accept the organization as a full member.
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