Former US House of Representa-tives International Relations Committee member Lee Hamilton arrived in Taiwan last night, along with chairman and managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Richard Bush.
Hamilton is to meet with President-elect Chen Shui-bian (
"I also wish to congratulate President-elect Chen. I look forward to meeting with Mr Chen and learning more from him about the policies he will seek to carry out once he assumes office," Hamilton said upon arrival at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport last night.
"This is my first visit to Taiwan. I come in a private capacity and am honored on this occasion to congratulate the people of Taiwan," he said.
But other than those congratulatory words, Hamilton remained tight-lipped about the details of his trip.
He had also ducked reporters' questions while transiting through San Francisco on Tuesday.
"I am going as a private citizen. I'm going over to congratulate the president-elect, to listen to him and to his top aides and see if I can be helpful in understanding the developments in Taiwan," the former Indiana congressman told TVBS at San Francisco International Airport.
He also refused at that time to comment on the purpose of his trip.
"I'm not at a liberty to discuss anything about this," said Hamilton. "I'm going as a private citizen and if the president wants me to report to him, I will do so," he emphasized.
Richard Bush also declined to comment on the outcome of last Saturday's election.
"No, it's not too sensitive," he said, responding to a reporter's request to express his opinion on the issue, "I am just not going to comment."
The US envoys will also meet with Taiwan officials including President Lee Teng-hui (
Hamilton, now the Director of the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, arrived in Taiwan with Bush just as another team of US envoys departed from Beijing yesterday.
That team, including the US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke and assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs Stanley Roth met with Beijing officials to urge restraint in handling ties across the Strait.
Holbrooke welcomed what he viewed as China's cautious attitude toward Taiwan following the election of Chen last Saturday and hailed the exchange as a success.
"The wait-and-see attitude we saw in our talks here was encouraging and we felt there was a constructive atmosphere on the question of Taiwan," he told reporters after a meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (楊潔箎) yesterday.
"What is mildly encouraging is that everyone has reacted to the new circumstances with prudence and caution."
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