Taiwan won't accept any degrading arrangement in AIIB: minister

Want China Times, CNA 2015-03-28

David Lin speaks in Taipei, Jan. 15. (File photo/Yao Chih-ping)

Taiwan foreign affairs minister David Lin said Friday that although Taiwan is willing to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), an international financial institution proposed by China, it will not accept any arrangements that degrades its sovereignty.

The matters of how Taiwan joins the organization, what treatment it will have and what will it be called in the proposed institution, will all be handled "through negotiations," Lin said while answering questions from reporters on the issue at the Legislative Yuan.

In addition to Lin, Finance Minister Chang Sheng-ford and Central Bank governor Perng Fei-nan have also voiced their support for Taiwan joining the AIIB.

In a newspaper interview published Friday, President Ma Ying-jeou said he has asked former Vice President Vincent Siew to discuss the possibility of Taiwan's AIIB participation with Chinese president Xi Jinping when they meet at the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia.

The main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, meanwhile, has so far not divulged whether or not it supports the idea of joining the AIIB, but said it will "take the matter into consideration."

DPP Department of Chinese Affairs director Chao Tien-lin was reported Friday by the United Evening News as saying that China's initiative is still in the development process.

His party "needs a very careful evaluation and the government should offer complete data and report it to the Legislative Yuan," Chao said.

If the government is inclined to join the AIIB, it must tell the public how it will achieve its goal and put forth a complete evaluation, he said, adding that his party will not allow national dignity and interests to be damaged.

DPP spokesman Cheng Yun-peng has suggested that Taiwan take the moves of European countries and leading Asian countries regarding the AIIB initiative as reference, the report said.

Taiwan's designation in international organizations is of great concern to the country, as Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory, making it difficult for the nation to join international organizations under its own name.

Whenever Taiwan gains access to an international organization, it almost always depends upon China's approval and on condition that Taiwan uses designations other than its official name–the Republic of China.