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.