US Deputy Secretary of State warns Taiwan against steps to regain UN membership. Members of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party trample US flags in protest.

Kaohsiung (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Dozens of protesters demonstrated in front of the de facto US mission in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, yesterday after US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte criticised Taiwanese attempts to re-join the United Nations.

Before police could intervene, demonstrators trampled on the Stars and Stripes, burnt it and unfurled protest banners, including one that read: “Oppose US bullying of Taiwan.”

The incident was provoked when a senior White House official, Dennis Wilder, said last week that Taiwan was not a state and so could not become a member of the United Nations.

He was followed a few days later by the second in command in the State department, John Negroponte, who criticised Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian for trying to regain a United Nations seat.

Mr Negroponte warned that Washington opposed Taiwan's UN referendum and saw it as a step towards a declaration of Taiwanese independence and a violation of the status quo.

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