MOFA head in Malawi to save strained ties

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang has already arrived in Malawi to discuss new cooperation projects in which Taiwan could assist, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, amid concerns for Taiwan-Malawi 41-year-old bilateral diplomatic ties.

Huang is accompanied by several diplomatic officials, including Chang Yun-ping, director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) African affairs department, MOFA acting spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh said during a regular news briefing.

Malawi ministers headed for Beijing on Christmas Eve to initiate a formal relationship with China, which last week pledged US$6 billion in development aid for a waterway linking Malawi's Shire River with Mozambique's sea ports.

"We hope to have new interactions [with Malawi authorities]," said Yeh, who noted that Taiwan could not compete in "dollar diplomacy" with China.

A news report in the Nyasa Times Jan. 2 quoted Ben Mbewe, secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as saying that "it is not a crime" to talk to another member of the U.N.

"The Taiwanese are becoming too jittery too early," Mbewe also told Associated Press.

"We need to talk face-to-face," said Yeh.

In other related news, an official from Non-governmental Organization (NGO) Affairs Committee under the MOFA said that morning that the foreign ministry would put eco-diplomacy and non-governmental organization affairs at the top of its 2008 agenda.

The official cited an 11-member delegation in Saint Lucia -- Taiwan's newest diplomatic ally in the Caribbean -- for developing the island's eco-tourism and bird-watching infrastructures.

"The mission helped Saint Lucia establish its own Eco Tourism routes," said Chiang Kuo-chiang, deputy head of the committee.

He added that the MOFA has recently set up a bilingual Chinese-English Web site to help local NGOs applying for subsidies from the ministry and contacting with their foreign counterparts.

Chiang noted that Web site allow users to follow up their applications online, which might further help the MOFA keep track of the already 36,000 NGOs that have been established in Taiwan.