Taiwan chooses the wrong letterhead
The Age
Wednesday July 29, 2009
TAIWAN'S representative in Australia has denied his country has engaged in any clandestine diplomatic activity to influence Australian politics, but representation of his office as the €śTaiwan Embassy€ť has caused Australian diplomats to express concern.€śMy Government, including the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canberra and its three regional TECO Offices, have never engaged in any covert diplomacy on political donation in Australia," Taiwan's representative Dr Gary S. H. Lin said in a media statement released late on Monday under the title €śpress release from Taiwanese Embassy€ť.Mr Lin's statement was made in response to recent reports in The Age on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's links with business and political figures associated with Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, especially Taiwanese-born businessman Kung Chin Yuan, who paid for Mr Rudd to travel to London in 2005 and donated $220,000 to the ALP.A close political ally of former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian, Mr Kung has been linked to a secret fund controlled by Mr Chen allegedly used to bankroll covert diplomatic operations in Australia and the South Pacific, codenamed the "South Route Project". Mr Chen, his wife and former aides are being prosecuted for alleged embezzlement from the presidential fund.Mr Kung has denied receiving any money from the fund for diplomatic work.According to a source close to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Mr Kung's sponsorship of Mr Rudd came in the context of Taiwanese disquiet about contacts between senior Labor figures and mainland Chinese business interests, and concern about "pro-Beijing" comments made by Mr Rudd in mid-2004.As a consequence, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office intensified efforts to engage Labor parliamentarians by arranging unofficial visits to Taiwan and encouraging contact with Taiwanese business interests.The Prime Minister's office last week declined to answer questions about Mr Rudd's relationship with Mr Kung, other than to say it has been €śentirely appropriate".While a Labor backbencher, Mr Rudd also took a trip to Taiwan in 1999, paid for by the Taiwan Sugar Corporation headed by businessman and later Taiwanese government minister Chang Yu-huei. Having resigned from his ministerial office in 2001, Mr Chang donated $12,000 to the Australian Labor Party in 2004-05.Mr Rudd again visited Taiwan in March 2000 and met then-president-elect Chen.The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office's use of the title €śTaiwan Embassy€ť in issuing its statement appears at odds with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade guidelines that require Taiwanese representatives to conduct their business €śunofficially€ť.Consistent with Australia's €śOne China" policy, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office does not have diplomatic status and while Taiwan's representatives meet Australian Ministers and officials, they are barred from contact with the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Defence Minister.According to the DFAT guidelines, Taiwanese officials may not use official or diplomatic passports to visit Australia and €śshould not claim to represent authorities Australia does not recognise€ť.
© 2009 The Age