Taiwan to fight for reasonable treatment at Copenhagen meeting

"Although a similar situation has existed for years, Taiwan will continue to try (for a breakthrough), " said Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Stephen Shu-hung Shen.

Taiwanese organizations taking part in the conference, slated for Dec. 7-18, have been classified as being part of China on the official United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Web site, prompting objections from Taipei.

Though it is not a member of the United Nations, Taiwan hopes to be treated as fairly as it was in May at the 62nd World Health Assembly, in which it took part as an observer under the name of "Chinese Taipei," Shen said.

It marked the first time in 38 years that the Republic of China (ROC) had participated in a meeting hosted by a U.N. agency.

Hsieh Ying-shih, chairman of the Taipei-based Environment Quality Protection Foundation, said the foundation applied to participate in the Copenhagen meeting under the national name of "Taiwan, " but the designation was changed to "China" on the UNFCCC Web site.

"It is an international political reality, " he acknowledged, but argued that despite such a reality, Taiwan could not refrain from attending because climate change issues extend beyond the boundaries of sovereign countries.

Aside from the foundation, the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) will also represent Taiwan at the Copenhagen meeting. Notably, the ITRI delegation will be headed by the deputy minister of the EPA, Chiu Wen-yen.

Chiu was cited by a local newspaper as saying that the only way for Taiwan to gain the attention of the international community is to strengthen its efforts on global climate change research.

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