Philippine leader to send trusted friend to Taiwan

Feb 20, 2011, 9:53 GMT

Manila - President Benigno Aquino III is to send a trusted friend as personal envoy to Taiwan in a bid to mend ties amid a row over deportation of 14 Taiwanese crime suspects to China, a presidential spokesman said Sunday.

'We confirm that former senator Mar Roxas is the personal emissary of the president to Taiwan,' said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda. 'Mar Roxas is travelling to Taiwan in his private capacity.'

Roxas was the vice-presidential running mate of Aquino during the May 2010 presidential elections. He lost to Vice President Jejomar Binay in a close race.

Aquino recently appointed Roxas as the chief troubleshooter of his administration.

Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih on Sunday said he would demand a formal apology from the Philippines during Roxas' visit on Monday.

'When envoy Roxas arrives in Taiwan, he must display sincerity and make a formal apology on behalf of the Philippine government,' Wu said.

'If the envoy cannot represent the Philippine government and make a formal apology to our government, we will consider it lacking sincerity,' he added.

The Philippines deported 24 members of a Manila-based telephone fraud ring - 14 Taiwanese and 10 Chinese - to China.

Manila authorities said the none of the suspects carried Taiwan passports, and that the Philippines upheld the 'one-China' policy.

But Taipei said Philippine police confiscated the Taiwanese suspects' passports - which Manila admitted later - and insisted that the Philippine government respect Taiwan's sovereignty.

Taipei has since tightened the screening of permits for Filipino workers and maids, and threatened to enforce a ban until Manila has made a satisfactory explanation over the incident.

Wang Ju-hsuan, minister of the Council of Labour Affairs, said there are 370,000 foreign workers in Taiwan, including 77,000 Filipinos.

'Filipino workers are not irreplaceable,' she said.

The Philippines cut diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1975 to recognize China, but maintains close trade ties with Taiwan.

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