KMT vice chairman says China trip only `private'

KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Chung-ling (蔣仲苓) said yesterday that a planned visit to his native province of Zhejiang in China is only a private trip and that there should be no public fuss about it.

Stressing that the April trip is only a personal matter, Chiang urged the public to view it with a "business as usual" attitude. He noted that it will be his first trip back to Zhejiang since 1949.

Chiang said he has received permission from the Bureau of Immigration for the journey, while neither the government nor KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) has given him any special instructions.

Asked whether he will meet with Chinese central government officials, Chiang said that he will not take the initiative to do so, but added that contacts with local government officials would be hard to avoid.

The trip has aroused attention as Chiang served as Taiwan's minister of national defense between 1994 and 1999.