Statement by President Chen Shui-bian
First, I would like to express my gratitude to Senior Advisor to the President Mr. Li Yuan-tsu for agreeing to represent me at this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Informal Economic Leaders' Meeting. I admire his tireless efforts during this period to prepare for participating in the meeting. I believe that had Senior Advisor Li been able to attend, his profound legal background and administrative experience would have enabled him to contribute to the success of the discussions on cooperation to combat terrorism. His inability to take part in this meeting is not only a source of regret for the people of Taiwan, but also a great loss to this year's APEC leaders' Meeting. Senior Advisor Li's willingness to offer his services at a time of national need presents an ideal model for all the people of Taiwan, who deeply respect and appreciate his efforts.
In addition, the People's Republic of China's departure from established APEC practices of sending a special envoy to deliver the invitation to the Informal Economic Leaders' Meeting, causing our inability to attend, fills me with regret and dismay. By intentionally discriminating against Taiwan and suppressing our active participation in the international arena, the PRC has neglected its responsibilities and obligations as an APEC host economy, undermined its stature as a major player on the world stage, and harmed the normalization of cross-strait relations.
I want to stress that Taiwan participates in APEC as an equal member, but in its hosting of various APEC meetings, the PRC has consistently used every tactic to obstruct Taiwan's participation and demean its status in APEC. In violation of established APEC practices and protocol, the PRC contacted us to send representatives to the various ministerial meetings held in China simply by faxing unsigned notices without specifying the names of the recipients. In response, to preserve our national dignity and to protect our right to active participation in APEC, our government demanded that the PRC discontinue its discrimination, for the sake of maintaining harmony in cross-strait relations and at the APEC meeting.
Unfortunately, with regard to the APEC Informal Economic Leaders' Meeting, the PRC government has continued its old practices, completely disregarding its role as the host economy for the conference. It has also ignored the interests of cross-strait harmony and the feelings of the people of Taiwan, which is truly a cause for great disappointment. Considering the difficulties, interference, and suppression we have experienced this year, I call on the member economies of APEC to jointly condemn China's behavior and prevent such an occurrence from happening again.
In the past year, our government has held to the principle of "goodwill reconciliation, active cooperation, and permanent peace" to promote cross-strait exchanges, in order to harmonize and stabilize cross-strait relations. From China's refusal to issue an invitation this time and its inflexible handling of our representation, we can see that the Chinese government still employs a two-faced strategy and power struggle mentality toward us, incessantly suppressing Taiwan's international participation and activities. I believe that China has hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people and we have gained a deeper understanding and awareness of the real nature of China's policy toward Taiwan.
With regard to the main topic--"cooperation against terrorism"--to be discussed at this year's APEC Informal Economic Leaders' Meeting, although I will be unable to attend personally for discussions with other economic leaders, the Republic of China will fully support the spirit and determination of the anti-terrorism campaign as well as any effective, substantive measures that may be adopted at the meeting. In addition, we will collaborate with other APEC members, including the United States, for close cooperation in the areas of intelligence exchanges, information, security checks, anti-money laundering measures, elimination of tax havens, and enhancement of energy security mechanisms, completely eliminating terrorist organizations and their affiliates. In order to block channels for financing terrorism and to assist in the capture of terrorists, I call on APEC members to support the US proposal to join the "International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism" in accordance with UN Resolution 1373, actively implementing related international rules under the APEC framework.
In terms of substantive economic cooperation, many Asia-Pacific countries have been greatly affected by the global economic downturn of the past year. The impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks has further slowed the prospects for economic recovery. Therefore, we will help promote, through various APEC mechanisms, the Shanghai Accord to complete APEC's goal of liberalizing and facilitating trade and investment. We will continue to pursue the objectives of our proposal for "decreasing the digital divide and creating digital opportunities," in order to make an effective contribution to APEC.
Finally, I want to call on the people of Taiwan, including all political parties, to be united behind the government in our active participation in the international arena. While recognizing the importance of taking part in such activities, we should not allow our national dignity to be disparaged, to avoid narrowing our space for international survival. I would like to again call on the Chinese government to be more open-minded and to take the opportunity for a positive development in cross-strait relations. The sabotage of Taiwan's participation in this APEC meeting will only increase feelings of resentment, resulting in a negative impact on cross-strait relations. At the onset of the entry into the World Trade Organization by both sides of the strait, China should adjust its attitude and adopt constructive measures to facilitate future interaction between the two sides in international settings.