KMT rejects president's entreaties as Perng tapped to attend APEC summit

The KMT yesterday refused another request from President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), this time sent in a personal letter to its party chairman Lien Chan (連戰), asking that Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) be allowed to represent Taiwan at this year's APEC summit.

Sources in the government confirmed yesterday that Central Bank of China Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) would attend the meeting scheduled for Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 in Brunei instead. The host country has agreed to this new arrangement.

With only eight days to go before the APEC leaders' summit, uncertainty remains after a political dispute over the timing of a policy announcement was linked by the KMT to the decision of who would represent Taiwan at the summit.

As part of Chen's last efforts to solve the thorny issue, Yu Shyi-kun, secretary-general of the Presidential Office, visited KMT headquarters yesterday afternoon to deliver a personal letter the president had written to Lien.

Yu said the president expressed his hope that Lien, as well as the KMT's central standing committee, scheduled to meet today, would grant permission to Siew to represent Chen at the summit.

The president also urged the KMT to make the national interest its top consideration instead of mixing domestic political confrontations with the APEC issue.

"In consideration of the country's biggest interest, we should maximize our national interest when expanding external relations," Yu added.

But the KMT turned down the offer, criticizing Chen's move as "difficult to comprehend."

KMT spokesman Jason Hu (胡志強) said the KMT had already told the president that Siew was not going, so he did not understand why Chen had sent the letter. Hu said the KMT would formally reply to the letter today to refuse Chen's proposal.

Hu said the KMT was optimistic to see Perng, also a KMT member, attend the summit.

Hu said Siew, as the KMT vice chairman, had a "special" status, and he should respect the KMT legislative caucus's resolution asking him not to go, Hu said.

But lawmakers from some of the KMT's factions within the legislature -- including the Generation-E Alliance (e-世代問政聯盟) -- held a press conference yesterday to support Siew's attendance.

KMT legislators headed by Lee Shang-ren (李先仁) also decided to ask the KMT Central Standing Committee today to support Siew's attendance.

"We intended to urge the party to take this move to mitigate the tension between the ruling DPP and the opposition," Lee told the Taipei Times.

But Hu said he saw no point for the committee to discuss the issue again today.

While Lien had at first approved of Siew's attendance, the KMT changed its mind in a tit-for-tat response to the DPP's announcement that it would the scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project.

The announcement came shortly after a high-profile meeting between the president and Lien.

Lien then announced a delay in the KMT's approval of Siew's assignment to the APEC summit, a move that Chen criticized.

Despite Chen's televised apology to Lien and the nation on Sunday, the KMT has shown no signs of giving the ruling party any concessions.