China walks out on APEC ministerial meeting in NZ
China walks out on APEC ministerial meeting in NZ
WELLINGTON (Reuters): The Chinese government delegation walked out of the first APEC ministerial meeting of the year because of a change in the delegation of its rival Taiwan, New Zealand officials said on Wednesday.
The Chinese delegation flew home from Christchurch just as the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Small and Medium Enterprises ministerial meeting was getting under way on Tuesday.
At issue was a change in leadership of the Taiwan delegation, Maarten Wevers, New Zealand's chairman of the APEC senior officials group, told Reuters.
A Taiwan Economic Ministry official confirmed that Yang Shih- chien, a minister without portfolio, replaced Minister for Economic Affairs Wang Chih-kang who stayed home to appear before parliament.
Wevers said New Zealand was informed about the switch last week and had tried at great length to smooth the waters with China without success.
"They were concerned about (Yang's) status and his position but, as we understand it, he has a status that is not as elevated as the Minister of Economic Affairs. But I think it depends on which way you look at these things," Wevers said.
"We had a number of discussions with them and they said that in the circumstances they were unable to join us."
China tolerates Taiwan's membership in APEC, but only as an Asian "economy", not as a sovereign state.
Taiwan has been estranged from China since a 1949 civil war split, when communist forces drove the Nationalist Republic of China government off the mainland and into exile on the island.
Wevers said Yang had been at four previous APEC ministerial meetings without any problem "but the Chinese indicated that they are not comfortable with him leading the delegation". Both Chinese and Taiwan representatives in Wellington declined comment on the incident.
But a Taiwan source said he could see no reason for the dispute to arise: "It doesn't make any difference -- both of them are ministers."
A Chinese business delegation remained at a parallel business conference after the ministerial delegation left, and Wevers said he did not believe that a series of officials' meetings about to start would be affected.
Beijing maintains that it alone has sovereignty over Taiwan and enforces a diplomatic embargo around the exiled Republic of China government, blocking its drive to open up what Taipei calls "international living space".
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.