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Updated Sunday, December 18, 2011 0:14 am TWN, The China Post news staff

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Singapore allegedly snubs Taiwan

“Improper conduct” on the part of Taiwanese personnel stationed in Singapore is to blame for a brewing storm in the relations between Taiwan and the island state, the Chinese-language United Evening News (UEN) said yesterday.

Minister of Foreign Minister Timothy Yang (楊進添) also acknowledged recent communication glitches between the two sides, but was quick to add it was going well now.

The UEN, however, reported yesterday that Singapore had completely shut down the communication channel with senior Taiwan officials stationed in the country and recent Taiwanese attempts to resolve the dispute have all proven futile.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied reports of a diplomatic shutdown late yesterday.

The Singaporean authorities have accused the senior Taiwan officials posted there “improper conduct” considered seriously detrimental to the “long-standing friendship and interaction” between the two sides, the UEN said, citing “informed sources.”

Singapore has no official ties with Taiwan. An unofficial Taipei Representative Office in Singapore handles the dealings between the two sides. It was not immediately clear what constitutes “improper conduct.” Taiwanese and Singaporean officials have both declined to comment on the matter.

Despite the absence of official ties, Singapore announced on Aug. 5 last year that it was going to negotiate an economic cooperation agreement with Taiwan. Since then, bilateral talks have hit snags as relations between the two sides deteriorated, the paper said.

Taiwan has tried several times, through various channels, to express its willingness to try and resolve the crisis. Proposals raised included sending Presidential Adviser Ding Mou-shih (丁懋時) to Singapore to try and “communicate” with Singaporean officials.

Ding was told he was welcome to visit the country if the purpose of his trip was to call on friends and go sight-seeing, but there was no need for him to go if the purpose of the trip was to discuss the depressed state of relations between the two countries, according to the UEN sources.

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Comments

December 18, 2011 Upwell@

Let us not play games and pretend not to understand the true underlying reasons of this so-called "problem". Singapore and for that matter most nations for their own interest would not want to step on mainland china. That big and becoming even bigger brother is a force to reckon with. Surely Singapore must hold itself back for the time being while Taiwan has yet to choose its next president. Depending on who leads Taiwan come mid-January 2012 this episode with Singapore may very well resolve itself. Nations play games with each other like children so we ordinary folks need not lose any sleep over these.