June 17th 2004
China's unexplained absence from two key regional security conferences has triggered speculation that Beijing is reassessing its diplomatic strategy. Beijing failed to send representatives to the 18th Asia-Pacific Roundtable in Kuala Lumpur from May 30-June 2 and to the third Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore from June 4-6. While the reasons aren't clear, most insiders believe the decision in both cases was connected to the presence of delegates from Taiwan, which China suspects of moving toward independence. It was the second straight year that no Chinese attended the round table, but China did attend the first two meetings of the Shangri-La Dialogue, which brings together senior defence officials from a dozen Asia-Pacific countries. Beijing's absence in Singapore was all the more puzzling in view of what appeared to be a downgrading of Taiwan's participation. While Taiwanese government officials were invited in 2003, Taipei's sole representative this year was Andrew Yang, who heads a think-tank with links to the opposition Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party. But he was included in a list of delegates by nationality under the heading Taiwan, instead of Chinese Taipei, which Beijing usually insists on. While China has always been sensitive to the presence of Taiwan's representatives at international meetings, security specialists say Beijing is believed to be rethinking its military and defence diplomacy in the region on light of its unhappiness with Taipei.
