Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), Taiwan's representative to the APEC summit last weekend, urged Taiwan and China to work toward solving their disputes and build mutual understanding so that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will be able to attend future summits himself.
He said it would be of symbolic and substantial significance for cross-strait relations if the president could attend the summits.
The special envoy made the comments at a press conference upon his return to Taiwan yesterday from the APEC leaders' summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, where he was representing Chen.
Chen praised Lee for his work on the trip. Before Lee went to Mexico, Chen said he had defined four goals for Lee: to participate in the summit without encountering any obstacles; to deliver a speech at the summit; to exchange opinions with US President George W. Bush and to express goodwill to Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) on behalf of the president.
Chen said Lee had accomplished all four goals and that therefore the trip had been "an absolute success."
Lee, who won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1986, did an outstanding diplomatic job for Taiwan at the summit, Chen said, as he spoke to most of the attending leaders on his behalf.
During the meeting, Lee made a speech at a CEO summit that formed part of the APEC meetings. The address marked the first time that a Taiwanese envoy had been invited to deliver a keynote speech at any APEC leaders' summit.
One of the most important parts of the trip was Lee's meetings with Jiang.
During their first meeting at the summit, Lee shook hands with Jiang and invited him to visit Taiwan.
Jiang, however, declined the invitation, saying it was a political issue related to the "one China" principle.
Lee said yesterday he believed in the goodwill existing in the hearts of the people on both sides and that a lack of mutual understanding was at the core of cross-strait disputes.
Common ground can be found if the leaders and people of the two sides can put themselves in each other's positions, he said, and understand each other's perspectives with regards to culture and history.
The history of the two countries showed that both sides were afraid to be persecuted because both had been victimized by powerful regimes, Lee said.
As well as trying to understand each other's historical and cultural backgrounds, the envoy said, more cultural exchanges and dialogue are key to cultivating mutual understanding.
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