Dear Mr. Prime Minister John Howard,
　 　Mrs. Jenny Shipley,
　 　Mr. Trent Lott,
　　 Mr. Denny Hastert,

We must insist on equality before the "democratic spirit" assuring that each country or member is entitled to equal protections and its rights, to be judged by the same criteria, to be treated the same way for his wrongdoings. We must insist on a basic international equality in that each country (member) is to be given respect and not humiliated on the basis of political conflict, weapon's threat or economic interests.

AUCKLAND, Sept. 10 ---
Mainland China and Taiwan clashed openly Friday over their entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the conclusion of a major Asia-Pacific conference here.

In a rare public spectacle played out before the world's media, they tried to score political points over their rival bids to enter the WTO.

Communist China insists Taiwan cannot join the WTO before it does.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Don McKinnon tried in vain to prevent questions from Taiwan journalists dominating the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum's joint news conference.

Mckinnon interrupted when a second WTO question from a Taiwan reporter was posed in the opening minutes of the press conference, which marked the end of two-days of ministerial talks.

The reporter had asked whether politics or economic were behind the WTO accession question and whether mainland China believed Taipei's wish for state-to-state relations with Beijing should influence the bid.

"I am just going to say I have attend now nine APEC meetings, they are becoming more and more dominated in the press conference by journalists from Chinese Taipei," said McKinnon.

"We don't need a constant run of questions from Chinese Taipei --- they are becoming a total dominant factor in APEC press conference," said the New Zealand minister.

ROC Economic Minister Wang Chih-kang tentatively asked: "Mr Chairman, will you allow me to answer the question or ..." but the moderator simply replied: "Next question please."

The next question was posed by a mainland Chinese journalist to mainland Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, who replied that he wanted to answer the earlier question on Taiwan to "correct ignorance on history."

Taiwan could not join an international organization such as the WTO as a separate state because it was part of China, and "this formula will continue in the future," he insisted.

Wang then struck back, saying Taipei had been seeking membership of the multilateral trade system for 10 years. "Our application is independent, separate from other economies," he said.

Mainland China had the last word, however.

Taiwan was only recognized as a separate customs territory, said Tang in answer to another question, and its accession to the WTO must come after mainland China's.

Despite McKinnon's efforts to canvass other issues, the Taipei-Beijing spat dominated, leading him to end the news conference early, saying other ministers had to leave.

"They really are very interested in Chinese Taipei but I think we have given you a good run on many subjects including Chinese Taipei, thank you very much for your attendance," he said.

A last-minute row between mainland China and Taiwan earlier in the week forced APEC officials to drop a paragraph in the APEC ministerial declaration backing early accession for both economies. Communist China wanted a phrase specially stating that it would enter first, officials here said, leading Taiwan to demand its deletion.

We never heard apologized in public for Taiwan people.

New Zealand has apologized to the Taiwan delegation at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum following a verbal clash between Taiwan and mainland China at a news conference on Friday in Auckland, ROC Foreign Affairs Minister Jason Hu said yesterday.

Mainland Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan's attitude at the APEC press conference fully demonstrated Beijing's hegemonic mentality against Taipei and cast a sour note over the event, according to Hu.

At the Friday news conference which marked the end of the APEC two-day ministerial meeting, New Zealand Foreign Minister Don McKinnon attempted twice to prevent Taiwan reporters from raising questions related to the island's bid to join the World Trade Organization, saying: "I am just going to say I have attended now nine APEC meetings, they are becoming more and more dominated in the press conference by journalists from Chinese Taipei."

McKinnon did not allow ROC Economic Affairs Minister Wang Chih-kang to answer related question, but instead allow Tang to answer a question posed by a mainland Chinese journalist.

However, Tang answer the question Wang had been refused permission to answer, claiming to "correct ignorance on history," and asserting that Taiwan cannot join an international organization such as the WTO as a separated state because it is "part of China."

Wang then refuted Tang, pointing out that Taiwan has been seeking WTO membership for more than 10 years and that "our application in independent,

separate from other economies." Tang responded in answer to another reporter by insisting Taiwan's accession to the WTO must come after mainland China's.

The spat between Taipei and Beijing led McKinnon to end the news conference earlier than scheduled, saying that the other ministers present had to leave.

Hu said the received information immediately after the incident occurred, and swiftly instructed Foreign Ministry officials to contact Wang and suggest that he lodge a protest to the host country.

"We cannot accept such a result and we believe that most of the countries should have also made a judgement of the situation," the foreign minister said, noting that New Zealand made an apology to the ROC delegation following the press conference.

New Zealand is a democratic country. It wants to help East Timor out of crisis. That's Taiwan want to do also. Interpretation of equality are often couched in terms of its opposite --- inequality. Let us to fight for any kind of inequality.