TAIWAN LODGES STRONG PROTEST OVER NIGERIAN TRADE OFFICE CLOSURE|奈及利亞封鎖我辦事處 外交部嚴正抗議

On June 30, the Nigerian government sent 25 armed police officers to shut down Taiwan's trade office in Nigeria and forced the staff to leave the premise. In response to Nigeria's radical approach, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lodged a serious protest, and will ask the Nigeria trade office in Taiwan to move out of Taipei in a reciprocal move. Taiwan's trade office, along with four staff, will relocate to the city of Lagos. With Panama out of the picture, Taiwan now faces another blow from Beijing to suppress Taiwan's international space. In January, Taiwan's trade office in Nigeria was forced by the Nigerian government to move out of the capital Abuja, change the office's name, and cut staff numbers. On June 30, the Nigerian government sent 25 armed police to shut down the trade office and forced the staff to leave. In response to Nigeria's radical approach, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lodged a serious protest. The trade office will relocate to the city of Lagos. Experts suggested the government withdraw expatriate staff from Nigeria. ==FAN SHIH-PING Professor, Graduate Institute of Political Science, NTNU== I think the government should now evacuate our expatriate staff back to Taiwan or to other safer places. In this way, we can express our dissatisfaction over Nigeria's rough approach. This is not the first time that Taiwan's trade office was closed by the Nigerian government. In May, 2004, the office was sealed off for 5 months by Nigeria's armed police. MOFA said that it will ask the Nigerian trade office in Taiwan to move out of Taipei in a reciprocal move. Experts think the Nigerian government may have acted under pressure from China. Taiwan's decision to stop using dollar diplomacy and its heightened tension with China both increase Taiwan's diplomatic challenges. ==HUANG CHIEH-CHENG Professor, Grad Inst of Int'l Affairs and Strategic Studies, TKU== This will definitely have a negative impact on current cross-strait relation. If we add up recent incidents, I think the cross-strait relation will continue to worsen. There may be more pressure from China and more bad news to come. In fact, earlier in March, the Nigerian government have already demanded that Morgan Chao, director of the trade office, leave the country within a grace period, as it cannot guarantee his safety. In consideration of Chao's safety, MOFA asked him to return to Taiwan. TRANSLATED BY ARIEL HSIEH 我國外交再受打壓，繼今年1月，「奈及利亞」政府要求我駐館更名、遷移和減員後，外交部證實，奈國政府，在6月30號，派遣25名武警，封鎖我國的駐奈辦事處。外交部已經向奈國，表達嚴正抗議，而目前駐奈代表處，還有4名人員，等到完成「遷址」工作，我方將採取相應動作，要求奈國的駐台單位，遷離台北市! 繼台巴斷交後，我駐奈及利亞辦事處在今年1月，遭到奈國政府要求更名，遷出首都阿布加，和減少派駐人員，但6月30日奈國政府竟派出25名武警，將我駐奈代表處封鎖，並強制駐處人員離開代表處，外交部對此粗暴做法，表達嚴正抗議，原本駐館將遷移拉哥斯市，學者建議盡速撤離，安全為上。 == 師大政治系教授 范世平== 我覺得政府這個時候 應該要立即把我們的駐在人員 回台灣或者到鄰近的地方 比較安全的地方去 也趁這個方式來表達 我們對奈及利亞的一個不滿 駐奈代表處遭封鎖，不是第一次，2004年5月就曾派武警封鎖達5個月，外交部也將視後續狀況，對奈國駐台商務辦事處採取對等措施，不排除要求撤離台北。學者認為，奈國政府行為，可能基於中方壓力或向中方輸誠，台灣已不走金錢外交老路，兩岸關係也不平和，都會加重國際空間嚴峻程度。 ==淡江大學戰略所教授 黃介正== 這個對於兩岸關係來講 絕對是相當負面的 所以 如果把最近一連串發生的事情 串起來看的話 我想兩岸關係 目前這個螺旋式的下降 很可能 我們還要再期待 有更大的壓力 更多的壞消息 其實今年3月底，奈國政府就曾要求我駐奈代表趙家寶，限期離境，否則無法保障其安全，外交部考量到人身安全，已先令其返國待命。 記者 李曉儒 邱福財 台北報導