Under President Ma Ying-jeou's concept of "modus vivendi" diplomatic strategy and a "diplomatic truce" with China, Taiwan made a fundamental shift in its U.N. campaign this year by asking the U.N. General Assembly to consider Taiwan's "meaningful participation" in U.N. specialized agencies instead of seeking full membership in the world body as it has done unsuccessfully in previous years.

Ou said that the more moderate and pragmatic approach has received a very good response from the international community and that he believes the bid will win more support during the Sept. 16 U.N. General Assembly.

However the fate of Taiwan's new initiative hinges on China's attitude. Ou said that even though he cannot predict whether China will let the bid be included on the U.N. agenda given the fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have not yet negotiated the issue, he still hopes Beijing will give it a green light.

"Although the two sides have not discussed the issue, I think there is the need to negotiate with China on the matter, " Ou said.

"I hope that the issue of Taiwan's international space can be included in cross-strait talks as soon as possible, " he added, saying that economic negotiations between Taipei and Beijing, for example, under the framework of the World Trade Organization, will inevitably tap the issue of Taiwan's international space.

Talks between Taiwan and China re opened June 11 for the first time in 10 years, involving Taiwan's quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS). The two sides agreed to focus on economic and trade issues in the beginning, setting aside political issues such as sovereignty and Taiwan's international space.

The fresh approach by the government for the country's participation to the U.N. is seen as the first crucial test for Ma's diplomacy, which has been criticized by the opposition as giving up Taiwan's sovereignty.Since 1993, Taiwan's allies have been trying to put the issue of Taiwan's participation on the agenda of the U.N. General Assembly, but Beijing's argument that Taiwan is part of China has prevailed.

Noting that the Foreign Ministry has done a lot of work in pitching this year's bid to its allies and other important countries such as the United States, the European Union and Japan, Ou said that the more pragmatic approach is in line with the government's policy of seeking reconciliation and a "diplomatic truce" with China.

The frosty relations between Taiwan and China have been thawing since Ma took office May 20, with his proposal of a "diplomatic truce" aimed at terminating the longstanding diplomatic tug-of-war with China in which both countries try to lure each other's allies to switch diplomatic allegiance by offering large sums of money in foreign aid to developing countries.

Ou also said positive results have been observed in terms of multilateral relations, as well as cross strait relations, citing as an example Ma's recent first state visit to South America and the Caribbean.

He said changes in the attitudes of Taiwan's allies Paraguay, Panama and the Dominican Republic can serve as an indicator that China has shown goodwill toward Ma's diplomatic strategy.

"We have made sufficient manifestation to the international community and the response has been very good, " the Foreign Minister said. "They all think the bid is very reasonable."

Ou admitted that it is a daunting task to get the bid listed on the U.N. agenda, but said the most important thing is that the international community has a positive response to Taiwan's approach.

"The case is impossible without international support, " he noted. "Even if the case fails to be listed on the agenda, I believe many countries will speak for us at the General Assembly or will express their support in other less direct ways," he said.