I have a Macedonian friend who I met last year through university and he often talks about the Macedonia/Taiwan recognition issue that happened during the late 90’s to the early 2000’s .To be honest,I don’t really know much about it because I was in my early teens back then and had no interest in politics when I was younger.Does anyone know enough about it,if so,can you fill me in? :help:
Macedonia and the Republic of China (Taiwan) established diplomatic relaitions in January 1999. It was the Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski’s idea, but Presidents Kiro Gligorov and Boris Traikovsky (or Trajkowski etc.) were against it. The president is head of state and ambassadors have to be accredited by him, but both Macedonian presidents refused to accept the credentials of the R.O.C. ambassador.
Taiwan promised a lot of investment in Macedonia, including (I kid you not) a chopstick factory, but not much materialised. Therefore Macedonia returned to normality by establishing diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in June 2001.
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Ties with Macedonia face obstacles (Taipei Times)
Foreign minister leaves to secure Macedonian ties (Taipei Times)
Macedonian leader voices opposition to Taiwan independence (AFP report)