Wednesday, July 25, 2007

TAIWAN'S NGOS TRY TO HELP ACHIEVE DIPLOMATIC BREAKTHROUGH

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) Taiwan's non-government organizations (NGOs) can contribute to the country's attempts to break through its diplomatic hardships amid China's oppression by participating in international and regional dialogues and organizations, NGO workers said in a seminar Tuesday.

The power of the civil society has been gaining steam in impacting the outcome of global affairs, and Taiwan's NGOs can make an impact in the country's limited diplomatic space by engaging in dialogues with NGOs all over the world on regional and global issues, said Chen Yao-hua, a professor at Soochow University and trustee of the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan.

The Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan was among 13 civil groups and NGOs that established the Taipei Community of Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GAPPC) in 2005. GAPPC is an initiative of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and currently has 15 regional sectors all over the world.

The Taipei Community is a member of the Northeast Asia sector, which also includes North and South Korea, Russia, China, Mongolia and Hong Kong.

During the past two years, the community has sent delegations to GAPPC regional meetings in New York, Seoul, Mongolia and North Korea. Taiwan's NGO workers discussed a wide range of regional and global issues, such as the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula, Japan's constitutional amendments and the cross-Taiwan Strait issue, said Hsu Szu-chien, a trustee of the foundation.

By showing Taiwan's concern about and attention to various issues in the Northeast Asia region, people in other countries will respond with support for Taiwan, Chen claimed, adding that it will be Taiwan's "alternative diplomacy."

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official Wang Chih-fa, executive secretary of the NGO Committee, said the government recognizes the efforts made by the numerous NGOs and welcomes local NGOs' participation in international affairs.