Despite President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) warning to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members not to visit China, DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) took his family off for a holiday in China on Wednesday, triggering criticism from other party members.
The trip by Lee was seen as especially sensitive since he is the convener of the legislature's National Defense Committee.
DPP caucus whip Lai Ching-te (
In response to phone calls from Taiwanese reporters, Lee said yesterday that his trip was simply a vacation.
He said that he did not understand what was wrong with DPP legislators vacationing in China, pointing out about 3 million Taiwanese take sightseeing trips there each year.
"I don't really know what the big deal is about DPP legislators traveling to China," he said.
"It is not likely that I would leak any secrets," he said.
Lee said that he had agreed that politicians should avoid visiting China just after Beijing passed the Anti-Secession Law.
But now is not a sensitive time, he said, adding that there is no law barring legislators from going to China.
"President Chen said the other day that he hoped to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), yet he wants to block DPP lawmakers from going to China," Lee said.
"DPP lawmakers shouldn't be afraid to go to China just because the president said they shouldn't," he said.
"The DPP can't have double standards and prohibit its legislators from visiting China. The DPP can't be a party that is not democratic," Lee said.
DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (
"Lee was supposed to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of such a trip," Cheng said.
"To be frank, in terms of the current political atmosphere, it is inappropriate for party lawmakers to visit China, since they might be exploited as tools of Beijing's `unification war,'" Cheng said.
Lee's family arrived in Guilin, Guangxi Province, on Wednesday and will return to Taipei next Thursday.
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