Taipei, April 13 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian criticized Beijing for boycotting the plenary meeting of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 (ANMC21) and disregarding the network's resolution in his opening remarks of the 5th annual Plenary Meeting of the AMNC21 Thursday in Taipei.
"China continuously used its political power to hinder the meeting's progress by boycotting meeting sessions. Even worse, it disregarded the meeting's resolution, and was unwilling to allow the section giving Taipei priority as the 2006 host city to appear in the joint declaration," Chen said.
Chen praised incumbent Tokyo City Mayor Shintaro Ishihara for dealing with the matter resolutely and bringing the meeting forward to April this year. He also welcomed dignitaries who arrived from nine major Asian cities to take part in the meeting.
Cities that sent delegations to Taipei for the two-day meeting include Bangkok, Delhi, Hanoi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.
A former Taipei City Mayor, President Chen cited past experience in which he took the proactive approach of promoting "city diplomacy" to help Taipei reach out to the world.
Taiwan is "not an isolated island, but rather, an island that embraces the world," President Chen stressed, adding that "a city charged with energy brings an influence far beyond our imagination."
ANMC21 was originally proposed by Ishihara in August 2000 in Kuala Lumpur during a joint conference involving the four cities of Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Delhi, and Seoul. It has 12 member cities before Beijing unilaterally withdrew from the ANMC21, resulting in the 2005 plenary meeting not being held.