People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) on Sunday lauded his achievements as President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) representative to the APEC leaders’ summit in Lima, Peru, calling them a “home run” because he managed to exchange opinions with the representatives of the other 20 APEC members, adding that many of them expressed hopes of befriending Taiwan.
Speaking at an international news conference in Lima, Soong said Taiwan’s delegation put its focus on the economy and trade at this year’s summit, where he took the initiative and interacted with other APEC leaders to exchange opinions.
Saying that he had made “incremental progress,” Soong said Taiwan’s geostrategic position makes the nation’s friendship valuable to many countries, in addition to the lessons Taiwan had to offer other nations in the region regarding its economic and democratic progress.
Photo: Lin Liang-sheng, Taipei Times
“We need not sell ourselves short,” he said.
Asked to comment on speculation that he was only able to attend the APEC summit and engage in a brief conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) because of his party’s acknowledgment of Beijing’s “one China” principle and its opposition to Taiwanese independence, Soong said that “the views of my party and myself have been consistent, but they should not get mixed up with APEC’s economic and trade agenda.”
He also expressed respect for a statement by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office that Soong and Xi had “simple, natural greeting exchanges,” saying the content of their conversation was limited to exchanges on international economics, which “does not need further speculation.”
However, Soong did not respond directly to questions on whether he had bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
He reiterated that no quid pro quo deals regarding the nation’s import ban on Japanese foods from five prefectures were made for any exchanges with Tokyo’s delegation at APEC, adding: “I did not promise a damn thing.”
Soong said he has no official position in the government, nor was he in any position to make such promises, because he was not authorized to do so.
He also urged people to refrain from transferring the nation’s domestic issues into the international arena, saying that public health and safety, as well as Taiwan’s national interests, take priority over the interest of any single individual.
He went on to confirm reports that he is to make a full briefing to the Presidential Office upon his return, which is to include sensitive information gathered during the summit that he was “not at liberty to discuss at a public event.”
Although Soong talked to Xi for 10 minutes at the APEC meeting on Saturday, the two have avoided public interaction in any formal capacity.
At a roundtable held on Sunday, Soong was seated across Xi, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英).
When US President Barack Obama entered the room, he reportedly sought out Soong and Lee to greet them, officials said.
Soong’s daughter, Soong Cheng-mai (宋鎮邁), and Abe’s wife, Akie Abe, took part in a group tour to a Lima museum on Sunday, during which they reportedly traded anecdotes about an old photograph of James Soong and Shinzo Abe’s grandfather, former Japanese prime minister Nobusuke Kishi.
The tour group was made up of the spouses and relations of the APEC delegates, although Xi Jinping’s wife, Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), did not take part.
PFP Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), a delegation member, said Soong Cheng-mai had maintained a cordial conversation with Akie Abe throughout the day.
Asked about his daughter’s activities, James Soong said he was glad she was able to travel with him to Peru, adding that she had added a personal touch to his mission.
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