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Australian Media Highlight Taiwan Role In APEC


Australian mainstream media reports highlight Taiwan's active role in APEC

The mainstream Australian daily, The Australian, devoted a quarter of a page on September 3 to a report on Taiwan's 2007 APEC delegation and its leader Mr. Stan Shih, the founder of the Acer Computer Group and a "technology titan."

Mr. Shih will attend the 2007 APEC leaders summit from September 7 to September 9 on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian. The leaders summit will be held in Sydney.

The report in Australia's most important national daily said that China looks upon President Chen as a provocateur espousing Taiwan independence and therefore does not welcome President Chen and China President Hu Jintao jointly attending APEC.

Faced with finding a substitute, President Chen turned to a globally renowned business leader to serve as his representative. The APEC leaders summit last year was held in Hanoi, Vietnam. At that meeting, Morris Chang, the chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, the world's largest semiconductor foundry, attended on behalf of President Chen.

The article in The Australian quoted Minister of Foreign Affairs James C.F. Huang as saying that one of the main goals for Taiwan at the APEC leaders summit to be held in Sydney will be to continue to follow through on the APEC Digital Opportunities Center project that it proposed in 2003.

The mission of the project is to increase avenues for developing countries to have access to high quality information and communications technology. Presently, seven digital opportunity centers have been set up in Chile, Peru, Vietnam, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Thailand. Minister Huang said that on a similar conceptual basis, Taiwan will advocate the Green APEC Opportunity Initiative at the upcoming APEC leaders summit.

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The Australian also quoted Council of Economic Planning and Development Minister Ho Mei-yueh as saying that APEC and the World Trade Organization are the two most important international organizations to which Taiwan belongs.

Minister Ho said Taiwan supports the idea forwarded by Australia for those attending the APEC leaders summit to make a declaration on climate change and to establish a flexible, voluntary cooperative framework that would aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the "Clean Development Mechanism" arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol.

Meanwhile, Minister of Economic Affairs Mr. Steve Ruey-Long Chen told The Australian that Taiwan's economic development has benefited in a number of ways since it joined APEC in 1991. In 2006, Taiwan's bilateral trade with APEC member nations amounted to over US$4 trillion, resulting in a trade surplus of US$45 billion for Taiwan.

Jeffery Koo, the chairman of Chinatrust Commercial Bank and also a member of the APEC Business Advisory Council, said that Taiwan's entry into APEC has helped entrepreneurs overcome limitations associated with traditional markets and has enabled corporate partners to increase contact.

This has given Taiwan the opportunity to play a leading role in regional banking integration. Henry Kao, the vice chairman of I-Mei Foods Co. and also a member of the APEC Business Advisory Council, said that APEC offers a forum to address climate change, energy safety and regional economic integration.

The Australian has a daily circulation of 150,000 copies, while circulation for its weekend edition rises to 300,000. It is Australia's largest national daily and it places an emphasis on international news.

The report on Taiwan's APEC delegation, which is arriving in Sydney in batches for the international event, along with quotes provided by high-ranking Taiwan officials expressing Taiwan's stance on various issues, will better enable the delegations from the other 20 APEC members to better understand the contributions made by Taiwan.

ENDS

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