A senior US official with knowledge of the meeting earlier this month between American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) has described as false most of the statements attributed to Burghardt by Taiwanese media, especially that Washington favors the KMT over the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the presidential election.
But the official said Siew had talked about so-called "dirty tricks" that the KMT claims the DPP will use to influence the election.
"Of all the thousands of silly Taiwan press frenzies I've seen, this one really has to take the cake," the official told the Taipei Times in an exclusive interview on Monday.
"These are the silliest stories I have ever seen. They are ridiculous," the official said.
The official, who would not be quoted by name, also expressed concern over the motivation of those who disclosed details of the meeting, which the two men held during the AIT chief's four days of meetings with top Taiwanese officials in Taipei.
The official denied that Burghardt raised concerns that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) might be planning various "dirty tricks" before next March's presidential election to boost the DPP's chances.
In addition, the official denied the existence of any "minutes" of the meeting, as alleged in a report in the Chinese-language Apple Daily.
The official also rejected the description of the Siew meeting as secret, saying that Burghardt met with several Taiwanese politicians from both the pan-blue and pan-green camps -- pointing specifically to a meeting with DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) -- that were not publicly announced beforehand.
"These are his friends. When he goes to Taiwan he meets with people to get their point of view," the official said.
As with other meetings, Burghardt was "almost completely in a listening mode" about concerns raised by Siew, and did not raise the issues himself to express Washington's concern, the official said.
"In the conversation with Siew about all the `dirty tricks' issues, Siew mentioned all of them to Burghardt. Siew told Burghardt that these were the rumors that were floating about Taipei. Burghardt did not know any of the stuff that Siew was telling him," the official said.
Burghardt did not initiate any conversation about the dirty tricks, and at one point in the meeting the AIT head did not understand what Siew was referring to, and had to ask Siew to write the Chinese characters for "dirty tricks" (aobu,
Siew brought up stories about possible DPP "plans" for assassinations, disturbances and incidents in the Taiwan Strait, all of which Burghardt "had never heard before," the official said.
The official was especially concerned about suggestions that Burghardt expressed Washington's preference for the KMT over the DPP.
"He would never say anything like that. It is simply not true. That's complete baloney. Burghardt would never say anything remotely like that," the official said.
"We don't side with the KMT. That's why Burghardt met with Bi-khim. He's closer to her than he is to Vincent, frankly," the official said.
The official said that the topics brought up during the meeting as reported in the Taiwanese media were basically accurate -- but that statements attributed to Burghardt were not.
Not only would Burghardt, as a professional diplomat, not express a preference for one candidate over the other, but "to use a Kissingeresque expression, `It has the added advantage of not being true,'" the official said.
The real question about the stories was the motivation of the people who leaked the details, the official said.
When told that the leak had been linked to DPP Legislator Sandy Yen (
The official was surprised by reports of the meeting because it is understood that Burghardt and Siew were in the meeting alone, or perhaps with only one Siew aide in attendance.
But the "minutes" reported in the Apple Daily did not exist, the official said, adding that there were no known tapes of the meeting.
Meanwhile, the State Department refused to comment on the Burghardt-Siew meeting on Monday, other than denying the allegation that Washington supports KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"The choice of Taiwan's leader is a matter for the Taiwan people," a State Department official authorized to speak to the Taiwanese press on a background basis said in response to a question about the meeting.
"The United States does not have a favorite candidate and will work with whoever is elected by the Taiwan people," the official said.
"Our views on political issues [in Taiwan] have been made clear in a number of public statements," the official said, referring specifically to a recent meeting between the Taiwanese press corps in Washington and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Christensen.
In that session, Christensen said: "We have no pretense of dictating outcomes" of Taiwanese elections.
"Taiwan is not a colony of the United States. Taiwan is not being dictated [to] by the United States. We respect the intelligence and farsightedness of the Taiwan people," he said.
He added: "We are ready for any outcome" in March's presidential election.
"We have no chosen candidate in elections in Taiwan. We don't prefer one over the other, and we will work with whoever the people in Taiwan elect. That is a steadfast, principled position, and we will continue to hold that position," he said.
Beyond this issue, the department would not comment on the Burghardt-Siew meeting.
"We refer you to Chairman Burghardt's public remarks in Taipei regarding his meetings and we don't have anything to add regarding that," the department official said.
"We have no details of his private conversations in Taiwan, or of the reported documents of non-US origin," the official said, referring to the "minutes."
Also in Washington, Taiwan specialists ridiculed assertions by Sandy Yen that her information about the meeting had come from a US congressperson.
"Why would a congressman say that? Congressmen do not work that way," said one leading Taiwan lobbyist with extensive familiarity with Congress and congressional members.
Other sources familiar with Congress could not think of any US congressperson who would be involved in such a situation or revelation.
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