Tue, Jun 19, 2001 page1

• Taiwan severs ties with Skopje

  DIPLOMACY Blaming the loss of ties on Macedonia's need for China's cooperation in the UN Security Council, Taipei took the initiative and broke off relations

  • By Monique Chu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Taiwan severed diplomatic ties with Macedonia yesterday and ended all economic aid to the crisis-torn Balkan state after its last-ditch effort to secure relations with the European country failed.

  The end of diplomatic ties with Macedonia leaves Taiwan with 28 official diplomatic allies.

  

  A Ministry of Foreign Affairs staffer removers the national flag of Macedonia shortly after Taipei announced breaking off diplomacy relations with Macedonia yesterday. The loss of relations with Macedonia cuts the number of countries that recognize Taiwan to 28 and leaves the Vatican as the Nation's only ally in Europe.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Katharine Chang (張小月) made the announcement at a press conference yesterday morning. Chang noted that Macedonia wants the backing of Beijing -- a permanent member of the UN Security Council -- in its civil war and accused China of "coercing" the country into shifting recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

  

  Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Katharine Chang, announces at a news conference yesterday Taipei's decision to break off ties with Macedonia.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  Chang said Taiwan "deeply regrets" that Macedonia has disregarded friendly ties between the two countries and "acquiesced to the pressure and enticement of China."

  After Taiwan's announcement yesterday morning, China and Macedonia signed a joint communique in Beijing to normalize relations between the two countries, Beijing's official Xinhua news agency reported.

  The statement was signed by Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇) and visiting Macedonian foreign minister Ilinka Mitreva, according to the report.

  Chang said Taiwan would close its embassy in Macedonia immediately, terminate all agreements and cooperation projects between Taipei and Skopje and withdraw Taiwan's technical mission.

  Chang stressed that Taiwan would not retain any "alternative" office in Skopje after breaking ties with Macedonia, saying "we will not have any representative offices there."

  During Macedonia's Cabinet meeting last Tuesday, the Macedonian government decided to try to normalize its relations with China, Macedonian government spokesman Antonio Miloshoski told the Taipei Times last week.

  Chang said the decision taken by Macedonia has not only seriously damaged the national interests of Taiwan, but also interrupted ongoing cooperation projects between the two countries totalling US$140 million.

  "This is bound to hamper Macedonia's socio-economic development in the future," the foreign ministry statement said.

  Chang's announcement came at 11am yesterday, shortly after the arrival of Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva in Beijing, foreign ministry officials said.

  Chang said the formation of the grand coalition government in Macedonia on May 13 spelled trouble for relations, since the new government integrated pro-China forces, thus hampering efforts of pro-Taiwan forces within the government.

  Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) and Vice Foreign Minister Chiou Jong-nan (邱榮男) visited Macedonia at the end of last month as part of Taiwan's last-ditch effort to maintain ties.

  In view of the ethnic conflict in Macedonia that began in February and its rising anxiety over averting an imminent civil war, Macedonia has been keen on gaining China's international support in dealing with the five-month ethnic Albanian insurgency along its border with Kosovo.

  China's status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council is seen as pivotal in helping Macedonia settle its domestic crisis.

  Taiwan and Macedonia established diplomatic ties in January 1999 without notifying then Macedonian president Kiro Gligorov. Angered by the accord, China broke off ties with Macedonia the next month and vetoed the continuation of a UN peacekeeping mission in Macedonia in its capacity as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

  Foreign ministry officials conceded that the loss of Macedonia as an ally was "a setback" for Taiwan, adding that in hindsight, changes in the the Balkan state's strategic situation made Skopje's shift of recognition from Taipei to Beijing inevitable.
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