Soong accused of twisting American diplomat's words

The Presidential Office yesterday accused PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) of deliberately misinterpreting his private talks with a top America Institute in Taiwan (AIT) official and of using the misleading remarks to attack the government.

On May 15, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) gave a banquet for AIT Director Douglas Paal and other AIT officials at which Soong -- who will be Lien's running mate in next year's presidential election -- was also present.

A few days later, Soong gave reporters his personal interpretation of the meeting, which -- the Presidential Office complained -- would not only damage the credibility of the PFP but also affect the country's interest.

"Soong said that AIT Taipei Director Douglas Paal had criticized Taiwan's administration during their meeting, but what we know is that Mr. Paal is perplexed by Soong's comments, because he did not make such remarks," said a senior official with the Presidential Office.

"According to our own inquiry to AIT officials, they told us that Paal actually said in the meeting that Taiwan's economy was not as good as it used to be, so its military procurement had not done so well now," the official said.

Soong had purposely twisted Paal's comments to say that "Under the leadership of the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) government, Taiwan is out of business and its economy is getting gloomy," the official said.

When Paal was asked in the meeting about the US' attitude toward Taiwan's joining the World Health Organization (WHO), the AIT head had replied that -- because Taiwan has limited international status -- it is difficult for it to win needed votes from third-world countries, so it needs to work harder to gain their support, the official said.

However, Soong used the comments to condemn the government for neglecting its ties with third-world countries, the official said.

In the meeting, Paal said that joining the WHO is a long-term goal for Taiwan that the US believes would soon be realized. But Soong said Paal's meant that "as long as the Lien-Soong ticket wins the next presidential election, Taiwan will certainly be able to join the WHO within two years," the official said.

Turning to the issue of buying arms from the US, the official said that Paal and Washington have repeatedly made public their blunt criticisms that the opposition parties should be blamed for hindering the Taiwan-US military procurement bills and other economic measures.

The official said that Paal gave a speech last July in which he called on Taiwan's political parties not to place their own partisan interests before Taiwan's.

The official said that Paal was actually referring to the PFP, so the AIT was surprised when Soong turned around and said that he had done a lot to push for the arms procurement.

The official said that the Presidential Office first thought that the Washington might be unhappy with Taiwan's government.

But when representatives from the office asked the AIT about Paal's alleged indictment, they were told, "Oh, No! We didn't make those comments."