China won't 'relax' Taiwan's suppression
President Chen Shui-bian said yesterday that China will not relax its suppression of Taiwan when the country's new president is elected next year.
Chen said China's diplomatic suppression of Taiwan has been consistent irrespective of which political party is in power and it is unlikely to change with a new president.
The president's remarks came in a news release as Foreign Affairs Minister James Huang announced earlier that day the decision to sever diplomatic relations with Costa Rica after the Central American country switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, ending a 63-year diplomatic relationship.
Chen said the changes in diplomatic ties with Costa Rica did not come as a surprise, noting that there were warning signs in that Costa Rican President Oscar Arias met with then-Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing during last year's United Nations meeting in September, while Costa Rica opposed Taiwan's bid to gain membership in the World Health Organization (WHO) during this year's World Health Assembly conference last month.
The president said that in addition to stepping up its military threat against Taiwan, China has also used every means to block and contain the country diplomatically.
"China is attempting to blot Taiwan out of the international community completely by luring away all its diplomatic allies, containing any maneuvering space of Taiwan and squeezing all its bargaining chips in negotiations," Chen said.
He also said that faced with the suppression, isolation and downgrading attempts by China, he has "engaged in diplomatic battles with China daily" since first assuming the presidency in 2000.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/111766.htm
President Chen Shui-bian said yesterday that China will not relax its suppression of Taiwan when the country's new president is elected next year.
Chen said China's diplomatic suppression of Taiwan has been consistent irrespective of which political party is in power and it is unlikely to change with a new president.
The president's remarks came in a news release as Foreign Affairs Minister James Huang announced earlier that day the decision to sever diplomatic relations with Costa Rica after the Central American country switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, ending a 63-year diplomatic relationship.
Chen said the changes in diplomatic ties with Costa Rica did not come as a surprise, noting that there were warning signs in that Costa Rican President Oscar Arias met with then-Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing during last year's United Nations meeting in September, while Costa Rica opposed Taiwan's bid to gain membership in the World Health Organization (WHO) during this year's World Health Assembly conference last month.
The president said that in addition to stepping up its military threat against Taiwan, China has also used every means to block and contain the country diplomatically.
"China is attempting to blot Taiwan out of the international community completely by luring away all its diplomatic allies, containing any maneuvering space of Taiwan and squeezing all its bargaining chips in negotiations," Chen said.
He also said that faced with the suppression, isolation and downgrading attempts by China, he has "engaged in diplomatic battles with China daily" since first assuming the presidency in 2000.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/111766.htm