Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday that her successful visit to Indonesia last week was "a diplomatic battle without gunfire," which frustrated the Beijing government.
"We did not meet with any setback. It was the Beijing government which got frustrated," Lu said yesterday in Taipei at a press conference.
"We fought a diplomatic battle without gunfire, a full-scale diplomatic warfare," Lu said.
Ending a four-day surprise visit to Indonesia, Lu yesterday held a press conference at the Presidential Office to discuss the achievements creating by her trip and to explain how she made the trip a reality.
She told the media that although she met with government ministers and other Indonesian political heavyweights, a planned meeting with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri was cancelled after strong interference from Beijing.
"The highest Beijing authority personally threatened to cut diplomatic ties with Indonesia through a telephone call to Indonesia's leader," Lu said.
"If it weren't for that phonecall, I would have met with President Megawati."
Both local and overseas media reports had been full of speculation about Lu's activities in Jakarta and whether she had met with Megawati.
Lu said that Beijing suffered three major setbacks during her trip: it had no prior notice of the trip, it failed to block her trip to Bali and it failed to prevent her return to Jakarta.
Referring to her trip as a "south-bound maiden voyage," (南向首航), Lu said the trip was Taiwan's first practical step toward fulfilling President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) calls in August to strengthen Taiwan's business development in Southeast Asian countries.
Lu took the opportunity to say that her relationship with the president -- frequently scrutinized in the media -- is close and that Chen supported her trip.
"We have a very good rapport and the president has been completely informed about all of the details of my visit," Lu said, adding that her staff members' cooperation in keeping the trip top secret was also an essential part of the trip's success.
Lu also said that Taiwan must fight for space on the international stage and must not be intimidated by China.
"We must go our way of justice, and prestige," Lu said. "I hope China can become more rational."
Accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) and deputy secretary-general to the president, Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Lu stressed that Taiwan should go for markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Lu said that her visit to Indonesia, the most densely populated maritime country in the world, confirmed her long-held view that the nation' should build Taiwan into a maritime country.
Lu also said that Taiwan is in the market for large quantities of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and that it could be purchased from Indonesia, though no firm commitment on the matter has yet been made.
Local news reports said yesterday that Indonesia and several other countries are interested in a 25-year contract to supply LNG worth NT$400 billion to a power station in Kuanying, Taoyuan County, belonging to the Taiwan Power Company.
In addition, Lu said, Indonesian delegates promised to visit Chairwoman of the Council of Labor Affairs Chen Chu (
Lu was the highest-level Taiwanese official to visit Indonesia.
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