July 08, 1999
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| July 08, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| China PNG-Taiwan ties a destabilizing factor: Chinese media BEIJING - Papua New Guinea's decision to establish diplomatic ties with Taiwan had added a new destabilizing factor to the Asia-Pacific region, China's official media warned Wednesday. A bylined opinion piece published in the state-run English newspaper China Daily said Taiwan had played a dirty trick by engaging in dollar diplomacy to lure PNG into recognizing Taipei. The Papua New Guinea government had reportedly sought up to $2.3 billion in badly needed loans from Taiwan. ''Wooing cheap loans from the Taiwan authorities by means of official recognition of Taiwan may indeed bring immediate cash to the money-hungry PNG,'' the article said. ''But a wrong calculation will definitely make it pay a higher price in the long term." PNG's act of dumping ties with China for Taiwanese money had severely violated the government's previous commitment to ''one China,'' the article said. ''Such an act has added a new destabilizing factor to the Asia-Pacific region because forging diplomatic ties with a non-sovereign region is nothing short of encouraging splittism,'' it said. In 1949, the retreating Nationalist government took refuge on the island off the east coast of China, ending the decades-old civil war. Since then Communist China has regarded Taiwan as a renegade province and has continued to pursue a policy of reunification under Beijing control. The China Daily article said it was sincerely hoped PNG could remedy its erroneous decision and restore bilateral relations on a normal track. ''Otherwise it will have to swallow the bitter medicine it has prescribed itself,'' the article said. Beijing has already lodged a formal protest with the PNG government and has warned Port Moresby will have to accept full responsibility for any consequences arising from its decision to establish links with Taipei. In the past, Beijing has severed ties with countries that have agreed to diplomatic recognition of the Nationalist government in Taiwan. Several state-run Chinese language newspapers Wednesday carried stories on the PNG-Taiwan agreement but focused on Australia's attempts to convince Port Moresby to reverse its decision. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer arrrives in China on Sunday for an official trip organized well before PNG's action was made public. A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said China's Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan will use next week's scheduled talks to seek Australian intervention in the row. (Asia Pulse) | |||||||||
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