( dpa )- Taiwan on Sunday congratulated Kosovo on its winning independence from Serbia, but stopped short of drawing parallels to Taiwan's sovereignty dispute with China.
"We congratulate the Kosovo people on their winning independence and hope they enjoy the fruits of democracy and freedom," Phoebe Yeh, acting spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry said.
"Democracy and self-determination are the rights endorsed by the United Nations. The Republic of China ( Taiwan's formal title) always supports sovereign countries' seeking democracy, sovereignty and independence through peaceful means," she added.
Yeh said the Foreign Ministry would issue a formal statement one or two days later, after having seen how major countries react to Kosovo's declaring independence.
Taiwan's separatist groups find encouragement in Kosovo's victory, seeing it as another proof that so long as a people pursue the fight for independence, they can succeed. But legal experts claim Taiwan's situation is different from that of Kosovo, so Taiwan will not take drastic moves to seek separation from China.
"The biggest difference is that 90 per cent of Kosovo people are Albanians, but Taiwanese are mostly Chinese. Taiwan has the same ethnic origin and culture as China. Most of Taiwan people oppose independence," Lee Fu-tien, a law professor at the Chinese Culture University, said.
Chen Shun-hu, an economics analyst, said the most urgent issue for Taiwan was to build up its economy.
"To be self-sufficient is the main issue. If Kosovo wins independence but its economy still has to rely on Serbia, then this independence is meaningless," he said.
Taiwan and China have been split since 1949 when the Republic of China government lost the Chinese Civil War and fled to Taiwan to set up its government-in-exile.
Currently only 23, mostly small, nations recognize Taiwan while more than 170 countries recognize China and see Taiwan as China's breakaway province.
Over the years, China has repeatedly invited Taiwan to hold unification talks with Beijing. When that was rejected, Beijing warned Taiwan not to declare independence or take moves tantamount to seeking independence, because Beijing is ready to defend its territorial integrity at all costs.
The United States, the mediator in Taipei-Beijing ties, has warned Taiwan and China not to take unilateral moves to change the status quo of the Taiwan Strait.
Under pressure from China and the US, Taiwan leaders often say Taiwan is already an independent and sovereign country, so it no longer needs to declare independence.
But Taiwan is to hold a referendum on rejoining the United Nations, and Beijing has warned that the referendum is a move towards independence and that Beijing will make a sharp reaction to it.
