The office of former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday confirmed that it had sent a delegation to Beijing for an academic exchange on economic issues, but denied that Tsai has decided to run in the DPP chairman election in May as reported by the media.
Storm Media, an online news Web site, on Saturday night published a report on Tsai’s chairmanship bid and another report on the delegation yesterday morning.
The first report quoted unnamed sources as saying that Tsai has decided to run for the chairmanship in May even if former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) also throws his hat into the race, which means that the election could be a three-way race between Tsai, Hsieh and DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
“The [Tsai’s] office has not yet discussed the issue of entering the chairman election,” spokesperson Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said.
Tsai and Su’s wish to vie for DPP’s nomination in the 2016 presidential election is an “open secret,” and Tsai has taken the first step toward that goal, so her competition with Su in the chairmanship election would be inevitable, the report said.
A possible scenario could be a coalition between Tsai and Hsieh, with either one challenging Su’s re-election bid, the report said, adding that Hsieh had sent DPP Legislator Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) to contact fellow Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), who is close to Tsai, about “integrating” the two camps.
Chen and Lin He-ming (林鶴明), spokesperson for Hsieh’s office, also denied the report.
Tsai’s office confirmed another Storm Media report, which said that a delegation led by former minister of finance Lin Chuan (林全) visited Beijing for an academic exchange with Chinese economists between Wednesday and yesterday, saying that a press conference to brief the public on the trip has been scheduled for today.
The office said the trip was a “return visit” for the attendance of two prominent Chinese economists — Bank of China chief economist Cao Yuanzheng (曹遠征) and Ding Zhijie (丁志杰) of the University of International Business and Economics — at an event organized by Tsai’s Thinking Taiwan Foundation in July last year.
DPP legislators Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) were on the nine-member delegation, according to the office.
Tsai’s office denied the trip has been part of her efforts to “gain an upper hand” in the DPP’s cross-strait engagement after the party announced on the heels of its China policy review on Jan. 9 that it would facilitate official contact between its think tank and its Chinese counterpart, adding that the visit was not arranged for political purposes.
DPP spokesperson Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said the party encouraged and welcomed any member’s confident and active engagement with Beijing.
In related news, Su embarked on a week-long European tour last night with the main objective of explaining and promoting the DPP’s latest review of its China policy, the DPP said.
DPP headquarters declined to reveal a detailed itinerary of the delegation, but said Su is expected to visit the UK, Germany and Belgium, among other countries.
Su is scheduled to deliver a speech on cross-strait relations and the situation in the Asia-Pacific region at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, the DPP said.
The trip would be Su’s sixth overseas visit during his two-year term, which ends in May.
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