Vice president's New York remarks OK, officials say

Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) brief comments to reporters during her New York stopover did not breach a tacit agreement between Taiwan and the US regarding the conduct of visiting Taiwanese officials, a Presidential Office official said yesterday.

Chinese-language media reported yesterday that Lu's public statement might provoke anger from China.

The Presidential Office said that "if Beijing was angered, it would be expected, because it is Beijing's manifest stance to suppress Taiwan's existence on the international stage."

"Vice President Lu has not made any diplomatic breakthroughs, nor was she in violation of the understanding between Taiwan and the US in regard to her brief talk with reporters on Tuesday," the official said, on condition of anonymity.

"Everything she did and said [in New York] simply followed customary practice. We have heard nothing from the US government concerning this matter."

The official said the media shouldn't "fuss over nothing. By not issuing a warning or notice, it is obvious that the US accepts such matters as common practice."

The official made the comments in response to speculation that Lu might have violated an implicit understanding between Taiwan and the US for speaking to the reporters in front of the New York Stock Exchange three days ago.

The US issues visas to high-ranking Taiwanese officials with the understanding that no open statements or official meetings be conducted in order to avoid upsetting Beijing.

On the last of her three-day transit stop in New York, Lu met reporters, by chance, in front of the New York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan.

Responding to the reporters, Lu said "her most important mission in the US is to solicit investment in Taiwan."

"I met with numerous financial heavyweights and exchanged views with them, and many of them have showed a willingness to invest in Taiwan," she added.

The vice president left New York yesterday, en route to Nicaragua and Paraguay seeking to strengthen diplomatic ties in Latin America on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Expressing views similar to the presidential official, Katharine Chang (張小月), spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that "what Lu did was just a friendly gesture."

"It was an accidental encounter, not a press conference planned beforehand," Chang stated.

The ministry official added the Lu did not breach the tacit agreement since all her meetings "were held in private."