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| Sunday, 19 January 2003 |
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Thailand denies entry visas for Taiwan MPs BANGKOK, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Thailand has not issued visas to a Taiwan parliamentary delegation to visit Bangkok next week, a foreign ministry official said on Saturday. Thailand recognises Beijing's one-China policy. It does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan but allows it to maintain an economic and cultural office in Bangkok. The 19-member delegation, led by Vice Speaker Chiang Pin Kun, had given the Thai foreign ministry little time to process its visa applications, spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow told Reuters. "They gave us very short notice on their visa applications which came late last week. It's not that we reject their visas...but a visit by such delegation may have some implications," Sihasak said, declining to elaborate. Sihasak declined to comment on a Thai newspaper report that the timing of the Taiwanese delegation's visit was too close to that of a trip to Thailand by a Chinese ministerial delegation led by Vice Premier Li Lanqing next week. He said the ministry had not received any reaction from Taiwan. Officials at Taiwan's cultural office in Bangkok were not immediately available to comment. A diplomatic row erupted between Thailand and Taiwan last August when Chen Chu, chairwoman of Taiwan's Council of Labour Affairs, was denied a visa to attend a conference on the southern Thai island resort of Phuket. About 140,000 Thais work in Taiwan, many as unskilled labourers in the construction industry. |
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