President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday made an unexpected visit to Singapore to pay tribute to the late Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀), with government officials offering ambiguous answers to questions about in what capacity Ma is making the trip.
Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) told lawmakers during a question-and-answer session at the legislature that Ma was traveling to Singapore as the “head of state.”
A government official, who asked to remain anonymous, said Ma was invited by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍), one of Lee Kuan Yew’s sons, to attend a private family wake at the official residence of the prime minister in his capacity as Lee Kuan Yew’s “old friend.”
Photo: CNA
While the trip was “personal” in nature, that did not change the “universally known fact” that Ma is the president of the Republic of China (ROC), the official said.
“Ma is the president of the ROC wherever he is,” the official said.
The official said that Ma has not been invited to the state funeral on Sunday, which many world leaders are expected to attend, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) after Xinhua news agency reported that the Chinese leader would attend the funeral.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
It was the second time an ROC president has been able to visit Singapore, which has maintained unofficial relations with Taiwan despite establishing diplomatic relations with China in 1990, following a visit by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in 1989.
Ma and a small entourage, including former National Security Council secretary-general Hu Wei-chen (胡為真) and former Control Yuan president Frederick Chien (錢復), arrived in Singapore at 4:25pm on a China Airlines Boeing 737-800 after a four-and-a-half-hour flight.
The government kept details of the trip secret, but several media outlets broke the news online before Ma’s departure at 11:30am.
The Central News Agency cited anonymous sources as saying that Ma, Hu and Chien met with Lee Hsien Loong at his residence to discuss their memories of Lee Kuan Yew.
Ma was scheduled to arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 11:30pm last night.
At the legislature in Taipei, Mao was bombarded with questions from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers regarding the nature of Ma’s visit following media reports that quoted sources at the Presidential Office saying that “Ma was on a private trip.”
Mao said he was not “part of the planning” of the visit, so he could not comment on a question from DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) about whether Beijing’s consent was required for the visit.
After DPP lawmakers criticized Ma for “sneaking out of the country,” Mao repeatedly said the trip was kept quiet to “respect the wishes of Singapore and Lee [Kuan Yew]’s family.”
“The head of the country is required to explain his motive when leaving the country; otherwise how do we know that he is not absconding with money on a plane?” DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.
“We have to understand that there is no diplomatic relationship between Taiwan and Singapore, and we have to respect Singapore’s arrangements, but I am sure that President Ma would be treated as a head of state,” Mao said.
In Beijing, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Fan Liqing (范麗青) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying (華春瑩) urged Singapore to observe the “one China” principle when dealing with Taiwanese paying tributes to Lee Kuan Yew, since he had always upheld the “one China” policy himself.
Meanwhile, former vice presidents Lien Chan (連戰) and Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), and former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) — Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members — and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) of the DPP have been invited to attend the state funeral, all in an individual capacity, Ministry of Foreign Affairs sources said.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS