China and Taiwan brawl openly over WTO at APEC

China and Taiwan brawl openly over WTO at APEC

AUCKLAND (AFP): China and Taiwan clashed openly Friday over
their entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the
conclusion of a major Asia-Pacific conference here.

In a rare public spectacle played out before the world's
media, they tried to score political points over their rival bids
to enter the WTO.

China insists Taiwan, which it considers a renegade province,
cannot join the WTO before it does.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Don McKinnon tried in vain to
prevent questions from Taiwanese journalists dominating the 21-
member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum's joint
news conference.

McKinnon interrupted when a second WTO question from a
Taiwanese reporter was posed in the first minutes of the press
conference, which marked the end of two-day ministerial talks.

The reporter had asked whether politics or economics were
behind the WTO accession question and whether China believed
Taiwan's wish for state-to-state relations with Beijing should
influence the bid.

"I am just going to say I have attended now nine APEC
meetings, they are becoming more and more dominated in the press
conference by journalists from Chinese Taipei," said McKinnon.

"We don't need a constant run of questions from Chinese Taipei
-- they are becoming a total dominant factor in APEC press
conferences," said the New Zealand minister.