Taiwan still talking with Gambia over ties: foreign ministry
ROC Central News Agency
2013/11/17 21:35:27
Taipei, Nov. 17 (CNA) The Republic of China (Taiwan) is still communicating with The Gambia through diplomatic channels over relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday, two days after the West African nation's unilateral decision to break off diplomatic ties.
Neither the ROC embassy in The Gambia nor the Gambian embassy in Taiwan has yet received any formal orders to shut down the embassies and break off ties, ministry spokesperson Anna Kao said.
The statement came as President Ma Ying-jeou was convening a high-level meeting Sunday afternoon to discuss a response to the development.
Sources in the Presidential Office would not divulge any details of the meeting except to say it included Premier Jiang Yi-huah, National Security Council Secretary-General Jason Yuan and Presidential Office Secretary-General Timothy Yang.
Kao stressed that her ministry is continuing its diplomatic efforts, but declined to answer a reporter's question as to whether Department of Protocol director Richard R. C. Shih and other Taiwanese officials sent to The Gambia have had a meeting with the country's president, Yahya Jammeh.
Shih is a former ambassador in Banjul.
Kao said that Foreign Minister David Lin met Saturday with Gambian ambassador Alhaji Ebrima N. H. Jarjou, who said at the time that he had not received a formal order over the announcement.
All indications and inquiries show that China has not been a factor in Jammeh's decision to break off ties, Kao added.
(By Liu Li-jung and Christie Chen)
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