The vice president yesterday denied that there had ever been a falling-out between her and the president, saying she didn't believe he was responsible for the widely reported row.
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had never said she was taking advantage of others.
On Monday, Chen resumed a regular lunch meeting with Lu after canceling it the week before. Following the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) setback in the Dec. 3 local elections, the nation's top two leaders last week appeared to be using the Presidential Office's public relations system to deliver messages to each other, including rebukes.
It was rumored that Chen, referring to Lu after she took over as the party's acting chairperson, said that she had been "fully taking advantage of others."
Last Saturday, when Chen and Lu inspected a navy site, their failure to greet each other suggested that relations were icy.
Yesterday, however, Lu told the media that the atmosphere of her lunch with Chen was quite pleasant and "certain misunderstandings don't exist any more."
Lu said that she had been pondering where the rumor had come from and firmly believed that Chen would not have used such language.
"The president especially told me that he would have never said I was fully taking advantage of others or something like that," Lu said.
Lu said that during the lunch she forgot to mention the establishment of the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit Construction Monitoring Alliance, but would immediately report to Chen about it.
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