Siew says he is not going to APEC leaders' summit

The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), an economic advisor to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), yesterday denied rumors that he will attend the APEC leaders' summit in Thailand next month.

Siew, head of the presidential economic advisory panel and chairman of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said he has "no intention" of attending the APEC leaders' summit in his capacity as a special envoy of Chen.

Siew's remarks were slightly different from those he made late last month, when he said, in response to reporters' questions, that he was "not aware of" reports that the government was planning to send him to attend the APEC summit. He made the remarks after a ceremony held at the institute to mark the establishment of the WTO Center.

Siew also declined to answer a reporter's question about whether he would take up any prominent role to drum up support for the presidential ticket of KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), saying that at the institute, he only discusses economic affairs, and not politics.