Taiwan wants to host 1999 APEC meeting, officials say

Taiwan wants to host 1999 APEC meeting, officials say

TAIPEI (AFP): Taiwan wants to host the 1999 Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, officials said yesterday.

"The foreign ministry here will ask relevant authorities to
discuss how to strive for the sponsorship of the 1999 APEC
meeting," Vincent Siew, chairman of the Council for Economic
Planning and Development, told members of parliament.

A means of allowing representatives of China to attend to
summit in Taipei would be considered when authorities study the
sponsorship issue, Siew said.

Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui has long hoped to attend the
APEC summit, but due to strong opposition from China, which views
Taiwan as a renegade province, Lee has twice been refused entry
-- first in Seattle, United States in 1993 and then Bogor,
Indonesia, last month.

China contends that Taiwan represents an economic region under
the APEC framework, not a sovereign country, and has no right to
send its political leader to the summit.

Taiwan sent Siew to represent Lee in both summits.
Vice Foreign Minister Fang Chin-yen told MPs at the same meeting
the government continued to hope that Lee would attend the next
year's summit in Osaka, Japan.

"The Chinese communists are the biggest obstacle, but we will
strive to head off this," Fang said.

It was decided at the November ministerial-level meeting that
the Philippines, Canada and Malaysia will be the sponsors of the
18-member APEC forum in 1996, 1997 and 1998 respectively.