Lien, Soong meet with Lee Kuan Yew

Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀) continued to meet with high-level political figures yesterday, including KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).

Lee met with Lien and Soong separately to discuss regional security issues in the Asia-Pacific area.

Lien, accompanied by KMT spokesman Jason Hu (胡志強), invited Lee for a luncheon at his residence in Ta Shee yesterday afternoon. Wives of the three also attended.

"We chatted like old friends without any pressures or preset agenda. And there was a wide range of topics" to discuss, Hu said after Lee's meeting with Lien.

"Mr Lien is paying courtesy to Lee as a host ... I think it is not worthwhile to interpret what they talked about privately."

Like other politicians who have met with Lee, Hu declined to reveal details of Lien's meeting with the Singaporean minister.

Later in the evening, Soong held a closed-door meeting with Lee at the Westin Resort in Ta Shee. Before the private conference, Soong told reporters he wished to share views on the Asia-Pacific region, and "help our international allies understand precisely what Taiwan's people" think.

But Soong said he couldn't reveal the content of the talks, though if there was anything newsworthy to report from their discussions, he would find the appropriate time and way to disclose it.

In addition to Lien and Soong, Nita Ing (殷琪), president of Continental Engineering Corp, reportedly met with Lee secretly yesterday afternoon.

Ing is a former member of the National Policy Advisory Committee (國政顧問團), which was headed by Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tze (李遠哲) and established by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) during the presidential election.

Political analysts speculate that Ing was meeting Lee Kuan Yew on Lee Yuan-tseh's behalf to talk about cross-strait relations. Lee Yuan-tseh is expected to convene early next month the second meeting of an inter-party task force on cross-strait relations.

News reports also said that a meeting between the two Lees was possible today.

Meanwhile, media continued to press former President Lee Ting-hui (李登輝), who was visiting Ilan County (宜蘭) yesterday, for comments on Lee Kuan Yew's visit.

But the former KMT president remained tight-lipped and angrily refused to give any comments.

Lee Kuan Yew is scheduled to return to Singapore today, concluding his four-day visit to Taiwan.