Taiwan has no intention of rivaling China in holding gala meetings to woo African countries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Wang Chien-yeh said Saturday.
Wang was responding to a United Evening News report that President Chen Shui-bian has asked the MOFA to organize a Taiwan-African summit that measures up to the China-Africa Cooperation Forum held in Beijing late last year.
Besides inviting heads of state of the country’s five African allies, the report claimed that Chen has directed the MOFA to see to it that all of the continent’s 53 countries be represented in the meeting.
Wang said the report deviates from truth, stressing that Taiwan’s engagements with African countries focus on assisting them in national development through official or non-governmental channels, not in the least for China’s sake.
Rebutting the newspaper report, the MOFA further issued a press statement late Saturday saying that the Taiwan-African Allies Summit to be held in Taipei in September will bring together the top leaders of Taiwan’s five African allies to meet with President Chen on charting sustainable development strategies and coping with the challenges of globalization.
Following on the heels of the Taiwan-African Allies Summit, the statement said a Taiwan African partnership forum will be held with the participation of representatives from all African countries regardless of whether their countries maintain or do not maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The partnership forum will discuss conclusions reached at the Taiwan-African Allies Summit as well as feasible measures to narrow the digital divide, promote public health and protect natural environment, the statement added.
According to MOFA sources, Foreign Affairs Minister James Huang is scheduled to visit the country’s five African allies — Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, and Swaziland — next month to deliver the invitations to the summit on behalf of President Chen.
The theme of the summit meeting will focus on how Taiwan can assist its African allies in coping with the challenges of globalization, the sources said, adding that issues to be discussed will include environmental protection, biotourism, solar energy, public health, and agricultural development.
Source: China Post
