Taipei, Feb. 18 (CNA) The Philippines and Taiwan will start trying to mend their current tense relations over a deportation dispute with the arrival in Taipei Feb. 21 of presidential envoy Manuel Roxas to explain and discuss the matter, a Philippines official said Friday.
Amadeo Perez, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) -- a non-profit organization in charge of Philippine-Taiwan affairs in the absence of official diplomatic ties, confirmed the appointment in a meeting with Foreign Minister Timothy C.T. Yang.
Taiwan reacted strongly to the Philippines' Feb. 2 deportation of 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China, saying that the country had ignored Taiwan's jurisdiction rights. It also took punitive action against Manila, including tightening the process for screening applications by Filipino nationals seeking to work in Taiwan.
"President (Benigno) Aquino has appointed his trusted former Senator Manuel Roxas as his special envoy, who is very popular among Taiwanese in the Philippines... to iron out the relationship between the Philippines and Taiwan, " Perez, who arrived in Taipei that same day, told reporters before his 90-minute closed-door meeting with Yang.
The veteran diplomat said after the meeting that Roxas' delegation is scheduled to have a discussion with Yang and "hopefully" to meet with President Ma Ying-jeou.
"On behalf of the MECO, I would like to express our regret to the Taiwanese people for this unfortunate incident, " he said.
Asked by reporters whether the Philippines will offer an official apology, which Taiwan has demanded, Perez said he did not know.
Yang, who said a day earlier that Taiwan's response "will be contingent on who the envoy is and what message he or she brings, " said he was glad Aquino decided to send his trusted friend, whom he described recently as the "troubleshooter" of his administration.
However, whether or not Roxas will meet Ma will depend on what message he brings and will not be decided until after the meeting with Yang.
Taiwan remains firm on its position that the Philippines should offer a formal apology because its handling of the case was "flawed" and violated the legal process, Yang said, adding that Manila wrongfully described the Taiwanese suspects as "undocumented" before sending them to China.
Yang said that the Philippine authorities' mention of the one-China policy and a mutual legal assistance agreement between Taiwan and China as reasons for the handling of the incident was "simply unacceptable. "
"By mentioning those things -- the one-China policy and cross-Taiwan Strait affairs, the Philippines has unnecessarily touched upon a delicate area that should not be involved," Yang said. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J