People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) has put an end to his short honeymoon with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), denying President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) claims that he had vowed to throw his support behind the arms-procurement package or had opposed reforms to allow constitutional amendments via public referendums in exchange for an invite from Beijing to visit.
"I never promised to push through the arms-procurement package," Soong said in Beijing yesterday, stressing that he had never struck any deals with Chinese authorities to bring about his nine-day tour of China.
ALLEGATIONS
In a TV interview on Sunday, while Soong was in China, Chen claimed the PFP leader had struck a deal with director of Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office, Chen Yunlin (
President Chen continued his commentary on Monday night, saying that Soong had vowed to push through key legislation, including the US arms-procurement bill, upon his return home.
The PFP has vehemently drejected the president's allegations.
While Chen Shui-bian and Soong had struck a cooperative tone with a joint 10-point consensus in late February, both men have taken steps this past week to limit their collaboration.
Yesterday Soong made it clear that he was touring China in his capacity as the head of the PFP, not as a messenger for the president.
"I am here in Beijing today as the PFP chairman ... and we are thankful for this opportunity to conduct party-to-party dialogue with the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]" Soong said upon his arrival in Beijing from Changsha yesterday afternoon.
`NO PROMISES'
"My interaction with President Chen resulted in his blessings for this trip, and now, his remarks in the opposite direction ... but there was no promise that I would be given any special positions or other privileges," Soong told reporters at the airport.
Soong was given a high-profile reception at the airport. Chen Yunlin greeted him with a handshake as he stepped off the airplane and onto the red carpet. A group of 100 Beijing schoolchildren bearing bouquets of flowers had chanted a welcome while a red banner reading "We Welcome the People First Party Delegation" was raised.
``So long as people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are as close as one family, then we can find a solution to the problem,'' Soong said. ``Both sides of the Taiwan Strait are looking forward to a breakthrough, to mutual cooperation and understanding.''
Soong is due to give a speech at Tsing Hua University and meet with Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong (
He is due back in Taiwan on Friday morning.
Soong had called for closer ties between the two sides earlier yesterday in a speech at Hunan University.
``We all have a common responsibility to advance cross-strait ties,'' Soong said. ``All of the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation are watching to see if we can shoulder this responsibility.''
Soong said he hoped his meeting with Hu would ``break the ice'' and contribute to a peaceful resolution of tensions between Beijing and Taipei.
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