Taiwan is waiting for invitation to attend Shanghai World Expo

Mar 27, 2009, 13:49 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan said Friday it is still waiting for China's invitation to attend the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, as time is running out for Taiwan to build the Taiwan Pavilion.

'Some countries have already begun to build their pavilions, but we are still waiting for the invitation from the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination,' Chao Yung-chuan, secretary-general of the China External Trade Development Council, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Chao dismissed speculation that China wants to exclude Taiwan from the Expo for political reasons, but admitted he does not understand why the Expo bureau has sent invitation to all countries and many international organizations, but not to Taiwan.

'It takes a lot of preparation to build a country's pavilion - producing the design, finding a construction contractor, interior decoration. Even if we get the invitation now, honestly speaking, it is already late to build the Taiwan Pavilion,' he said by phone.

Wang said the Expo bureau has neither openly welcomed Taiwan to set up the Taiwan Pavilion nor rejected Taiwan's attendance, but it has allowed the Taipei City and the Aurora Group to open their pavilions.

The Taipei city will set up a pavilion in the Urban Practices Area to introduce WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) City and Garbage Recycling, and the Aurora Group will launch the Aurora Pavilion, which is a 'Cooperate Pavilion' to showcase jade artworks.

Wang said the Expo bureau is offering participants three choices: they can build their own pavilion, rent a pavilion, or share space in the common pavilion which will serve small countries that do not want to build their own pavilions.

'If time runs out for building our own pavilion, we have to rent a an already-built pavilion. Taiwan will not not use the common pavilion because China does not regard Taiwan as a country and will not put Taiwan into the common pavilion,' he said.

The Shanghai World Expo will be held from May 1-October 31, 2010. The Expo, held every five years, is expected to draw 70 million visitors.

According to the Expo's website, 186 countries and 47 international organizations have confirmed their participation in the Expo. Shanghai is building the China Pavilion which will have separate sections for China's provinces and cities, and will be kept as a permanent monument after the Expo has ended.

But Taiwan does not want to enter the China Pavilion because the island, split from China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, regards itself as a sovereignty country currently recognized by 23 nations.