The Presidential Office yesterday downplayed the removal of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) photograph and information from the APEC Web site, saying they were happy about the “breakthrough” the country made this year.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) called the “breakthrough” the “biggest” since APEC was established 17 years ago.
“It serves the interests of Taiwan if we continue to make progress,” he said.
Ma on Tuesday acknowledged the organizer of this year’s APEC summit for using his photograph and referring to him as “president” on the Web site and official documents, saying it indicated his more conciliatory cross-strait policies were working.
It marked the first time that the country’s president was introduced in an APEC document and the first time since Taiwan became an APEC member economy in 1991 that a host country published a picture of a Taiwanese president on the Web site.
Ma’s photograph and other information, however, were later removed from the Web site. Critics suspected China of interfering in the matter.
Since Taiwan and China joined APEC in 1991, Beijing has blocked Taipei’s presidents and foreign ministers from attending the group’s forums, citing a memorandum of understanding signed with China and Hong Kong before Taipei joined the group under the name “Chinese Taipei.” Under this memorandum, the three economies entered the organization as a single economic entity.
Beijing’s backroom bullying over Taiwan’s participation at APEC reached a climax in 2001, when the meeting was held in Shanghai, and Beijing blocked Taiwan from attending the leaders meeting.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday that Taiwan’s standing in APEC remained solid, adding that Taiwan was not the only country whose profile was erased from the APEC Web site.
“According to our understanding,” said Director-General of the Department of International Organizations Paul Chang (章文樑), “the entire section that introduces all the heads of member economies was completely taken down.”
He added that Taiwan was not singled out and the public should not read too much into the situation.
Chang insisted that the deletion was not specifically aimed at Taiwan and if APEC organizers made any gestures to demean Taiwan, “we will lodge a protest at an appropriate time.”
MOFA is still investigating why the section was taken down, he added.
MOFA said that Lima commissioned its national news agency, Andina, to handle all media-related affairs and to post APEC-related information on the Web site.
The APEC summit, also known as the informal economic leaders’ meeting, will be held in Lima from tomorrow through Sunday this year.
The reception is scheduled for tomorrow and business networking, tours and golf are planned for Sunday.
Leaders scheduled to speak at the summit include Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
Former vice president and honorary Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) is standing in for Ma in Lima this year. Lien is the highest-ranking Taiwanese official to attend the event.
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) proposed that former vice president Li Yuan-zu (李元簇) be the APEC representative, but the proposal was voted down by Beijing.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS