President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) met Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) at the Presidential Office yesterday to discuss the enhancement of mutual co-operation as well as regional issues.
"They focused on issues such as hastening the realization of a free trade agreement and cooperation in security and military affairs," a senior member of the Presidential Office told the Taipei Times.
"Some reports in the local media claimed that Lee is here serving as a special envoy of Beijing to facilitate the reopening of cross-strait talks. This is over-interpretation," the official said.
Lee arrived Saturday night for what has been billed a private visit.
The government has declined to make any official statement about Lee's visit.
A government official, who asked not to be named, said that the Chen and Lee exchanged views on strengthening bilateral co-operative programs, including trade affairs and military training, as well as the integration and involvement of the Southeast-Asian region.
"Responding to Lee's concern over cross-strait issues, Chen also expressed Taiwan's sincerity and reaffirmed his resolution to solve the current deadlock," the official said.
"The Singaporean government has its priority policies, and Mr. Lee's priority, before being officially inaugurated as that country's prime minister, is to create his own credibility as the only heavyweight who can conduct dialogue with both sides of the Taiwan Strait," the official said.
Chen invited Lee and his entourage, including Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean (張志賢), to have dinner at his residence. Vice President Annette Lu (
Lee met Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (
Earlier Lee attended a luncheon at the Landis Taipei Hotel hosted by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien's aides said Lien and Lee held a 50-minute meeting behind closed doors before the luncheon.
While Lee did not speak to reporters when he left the luncheon, Lien, noting the good relations between Taiwan and Singapore, said that he hoped both sides could work to strengthen mutual ties.
Noting that Lien has been friends with Lee for years, KMT Spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said that the luncheon was for "old friends' sake."
Wang said no political issues were brought up during the lunch.
"The conversation focused on Taiwan's economic development, such as the investment conditions in industrial parks in Taichung and Taoyuan, as well as enterprises on either side of the Taiwan Strait," Wang said.
Also see story:
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
RSS