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No apology from Philippine envoy
Staff Writer, with CNA
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Philippine special envoy Manuel Roxas, left,
shakes hands with Foreign Minister Timothy Yang in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: AFP
A special envoy from the Philippines yesterday met Foreign Minister Timothy Yang
(·¨¶i²K), but did not offer an apology for the recent diplomatic fracas between
Manila and Taipei, describing it as a ¡§misunderstanding.¡¨
¡§I bring with me my president¡¦s good wishes for you, President Ma [Ying-jeou
(°¨^¤E)] and the Taiwanese people, and his sincere and deep desire to mend
whatever misunderstandings and difficulties this recent unfortunate event might
have caused in our otherwise good relationship,¡¨ said Senator Manuel Roxas, who
was dispatched by Manila to mend fences with Taipei after the Philippines
deported 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China on Feb. 2 despite strong protests
by Taiwanese officials.
Without offering the apology repeatedly demanded by Taiwan, Roxas said he came
to Taiwan under the directive of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to take
care of this ¡§very, very important matter.¡¨
Yang welcomed Roxas, but did not respond to Roxas¡¦ comments when he called
Taiwan his -country¡¦s ¡§closest neighbor¡¨ as they shook hands.
Only the first three minutes of the meeting were open to the press and the two
men continued their discussion behind closed doors once reporters were removed.
The friendship between Taiwan and the Philippines is being tested over the
matter.
Manila¡¦s decision to ignore Taipei¡¦s demand prompted Taipei to implement a
string of retaliatory measures against the Philippines, including tightening the
screening of applications by Philippine citizens seeking to work in Taiwan, as
well as the cancelation of visa-waiver privileges for certain categories of
Filipinos.
Manila defended its decision by saying the 14 men did not have proof of
citizenship at the time of their arrest and that the move was in the best
interests of the Philippines.
Taiwan and the Philippines do not have diplomatic relations and Manila adheres
to a ¡§one China¡¨ policy.
Ahead of Roxas¡¦ visit, Taipei said the relaxation of its retaliatory measures
against Manila would be contingent on the message brought by the special envoy.
Asked yesterday about the likelihood of Manila apologizing for the deportations,
Philippine presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said it would not happen.
¡§We believe in the process that we undertook,¡¨ he said, speaking on Philippine
government radio about the deportation.
According to the authorities, the 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects were allegedly
part of a crime ring that preyed on Chinese nationals living in China. It is
said the syndicate swindled their victims out of NT$600 million (US$20.44
million).
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