On January 27, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Macedonia, Aleksandar Dimitrov, and the Foreign Minister of the ROC, Jason Hu, signed an agreement establishing formal diplomatic relations between the two countries. There were shadows hanging over this good news-the president of Macedonia publicly renounced the agreement, and the PRC broke off diplomatic relations with Macedonia and is using its international clout to threaten that country. Nevertheless, on February 12 the Macedonian parliament approved the agreement. Mutual visits have already begun. This victory shows the ROC's determination to overcome all obstacles to maximizing its diplomatic relations.

The Republic of Macedonia, a landlocked country in the Balkans, is bordered by Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. It has an area of 25,300 square kilometers, a population of about two million, and a per capita income of US$1650.

Though a small country, Macedonia has an ancient history and culture. One of the constituent states of the former Yugoslavia, it declared independence in 1991 after Yugoslavia disintegrated, and entered the UN in 1993.

The ROC foreign ministry states that it hopes Macedonia will become the ROC's window on Europe. After the withdrawal of the ROC embassy from Portugal in 1975, the Vatican had been the only country in Europe to maintain formal diplomatic ties with the ROC.

With the introduction of the Euro and the growing international clout of the European Union, the importance of ties with Europe is obvious. In fact, in mid-February, after attending the funeral of King Hussein of Jordan, Foreign Minister Hu flew to Europe where he met with Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Angelo Sodano and also hoped to visit neighboring countries, thus demonstrating the ROC's determination to improve relations with European states.

Macedonia is the 28th country with which the ROC has formal ties. Last year, the PRC succeeded in wooing away four ROC allies-South Africa, the Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, and Tonga. The ROC only won one in November, when formal ties were established with the Marshall Islands, an archipelago-state in the Pacific.

Regrettably, ties with Macedonia are threatened by political infighting in that country.

After declaring independence, Macedonia adopted a system with both a president and a prime minister. At first, the left-dominated by former communists-had the upper hand. Kiro Gligorov, 83 this year and a long-time Communist Party official, was elected president, and the cabinet was led by the Social-Democratic Alliance (the former Communist Party).

However, the government's performance did not meet the expectations of the citizens of Macedonia, and in the third parliamentary elections, held last October and November, a coalition of moderate-right parties organized only half a year ago-led by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Party/Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity-won 62 of the 120 seats in parliament. With this majority they formed a new government, and the current premier, 32-year-old Ljupco Georgievski, has become the symbol of a new generation of reformers.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Dimitrov has stated that Macedonia, as a primarily agricultural country with a low per capita income and high unemployment, seeks to learn from Taiwan's economic experience. It also hopes to attract investment from Taiwan in industry and infrastructure. That is why, despite opposition from the pro-PRC president, the Macedonian parliament held firm and approved formal ties with the ROC.

But Macedonia has not been able to escape PRC pressure. Besides breaking off diplomatic ties with Macedonia on February 9, the PRC has also threatened to block the continued deployment of United Nations peacekeeping forces in Macedonia. (Macedonia has so far avoided the bloody ethnic conflicts that have engulfed much of the Balkans, and the UN and NATO have dispatched forces to help ensure the peace there. However, the mandate for the peace-keepers expires at the end of February. The PRC, as a member of the UN Security Council, has the power to veto continuation of the mandate.)

In Taiwan, though the establishment of ties with Macedonia was cheering news to go along with New Year celebrations, many observers remained skeptical. The United Daily News commented that the Macedonian development marks no fundamental change in Taiwan's long-term diplomatic situation, and that the pattern over the years has been that, after Taiwan invests tremendous effort in establishing diplomatic ties, the PRC simply increases its international pressure on Taiwan and further limits Taiwan's room for survival. It is hard to say when the ROC should aggressively pursue formal diplomatic ties, and when it should hold back.

To explore the possibilities for joint ROC-Macedonia cooperation, on February 16, Loh Ping-cheung, secretary-general of the International Cooperation and Development Fund (the main foreign-aid institution in the ROC), headed to Macedonia. To give concrete form to the policy of making economic and trade ties the main axis of Taiwan's diplomatic efforts, Loh studied the situation on the ground in Macedonia to determine how much aid, and in what form, would be best at the present time.

The speaker of the Macedonian parliament, Savo Klimovski, will visit Taiwan at the beginning of March, after which Jason Hu will pay a return courtesy visit to Macedonia. It is said that ROC Premier Vincent Siew and Vice-President Lien Chan are both also very interested in going to Macedonia.

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The ROC has established formal diplomatic ties with Macedonia. The announcement of this event, signed by ROC Foreign Minister Jason Hu and his counterpart from the Republic of Macedonia, Aleksandar Dimitrov, marks the opening of a new window on Europe for Taiwan.(photo by Hu Kuo-wei, United Daily News)