Russian rep praises Taiwan's pragmatism

Sergey N. Gubarev, head of the Representative Office in Taipei for the Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation, urged Taiwan's leadership to continue the pragmatic and flexible diplomatic approaches toward China that it has adopted over the past year and so.

Gubarev, whose stint in Taiwan ends next month, said that although Russia and Taiwan maintain no formal diplomatic relations, Russian diplomatic circles have had a certain degree of interest toward Taiwan since the Soviet Union era.

“The issue of cross-strait relations was one of the decisive factors considered when Moscow was crafting policies toward Taiwan, “ Gubarev noted.

Gubarev said he is glad that during his stint in Taiwan over nearly four years, Taiwan has not encountered any serious security threats, and said he believed that such threats are almost non-existent at present.

Stressing Russia's consistent stance that cross-Taiwan Strait issues should be solved peacefully, he said, “so long as cross strait relations improve, Russia-Taiwan ties will improve.”

While supported President Ma Ying-jeou's diplomatic policy and his pragmatic spirit, Gubarev disclosed that it was impossible for Moscow not to have a negative reaction to Taiwan's 2008 referendum on pushing for entry into the United Nations.

Established in 1992, the Representative Office in Taipei for the Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation is the de facto Russian embassy in the absence of formal diplomatic relations between Russia and Taiwan.

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