Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) trip to Jakarta last week marks a shift in the Taiwanese government's tactics in dealing with China's attempts to isolate it in the international community, sources said yesterday.
Sources from the Presidential Office said that President Chen Shui-bian (
"For fear of being regarded by the international community as a troublemaker, Taiwan in the past has often yielded to other nations' unfair treatment whenever they complained about pressure from Beijing," a source, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times yesterday.
PHOTO: CHU YU-PING, TAIPEI TIMES
"But now, Taiwan no longer wants to accept such unfair treatment," the source said.
Apparently as a result of opposition from China, Indonesia denied Lu entry to its capital, Jakarta, on Wednesday, forcing the vice president to fly on to Bali after waiting in the airport at Jakarta for two hours.
The source said that the Indonesian government had privately apologized and asked Taiwan to understand the difficult position it was in.
"But we did not accept [the apology]," the source said. "We made it clear that we would not tolerate the Indonesian government's move just because it said that it was under pressure from Beijing."
On Friday, Indonesia appeared to relent. Lu was allowed to enter Jakarta and met with congressmen and other former and incumbent government officials before flying back to Taiwan on Saturday.
"China can not make decisions for Taiwan," the source added. "If the Indonesian government wants to have any contact with Taiwan, it has to squarely face the existence of Taiwanese authority."
Insiders commented that Taiwan's government had a number of bargaining chips which it could use to negotiate with the Indonesians.
One issue is Taiwan's ban on the importation of Indonesian laborers, which it announced on July 31. Lu apparently met with Indonesia's labor minister to discuss the matter while she was in Bali.
Taiwan is also considering buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth NT$400 billion (US$11.79 billion) from Indonesia.
Hsueh Yi-cheng (
Nevertheless, the DPP has judged the trip to be a success, despite Lu's initial setback.
DPP Legislator Parris Chang (
"Lu's four-day trip to Indonesia was a very successful diplomatic breakthrough," said Chang, who also serves as the convener of Legislature Yuan's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee. "It has made Beijing lose face."
Nevertheless, Chang cautioned that further diplomatic initiatives would have to be carefully planned and conducted as part of a coherent strategy.
The Indonesia trip might also boost Lu's chances of securing her place as Chen's running mate in the 2004 presidential election.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to