Staff reporter
President-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) began an advice-seeking tour yesterday by visiting former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to discuss policies and the political situation after the presidential election.
Recounting the content of their conversation, Ma told reporters after the 100-minute meeting that Lee approved of the nationwide tour Ma and vice president-elect Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) carried out during their election campaign ito gain a better understanding of ordinary people's daily lives.
Lee also stressed the importance of discipline and integrity for a national leader, Ma said.
"Former president Lee stressed the importance of integrity and urged me to establish a clean government," Ma said.
Siew, who arranged the meeting, accompanied Ma on the visit yesterday.
Ma said he had expressed his gratitude to Lee for the compliments he made during an interview with Japan's Sankei Shimbun that described him as "self-righteous, but also modern," and said that he would seek more advice from Lee in the future, especially on the nation's relations with Japan.
Ma said they did not touch on the issue of the proposed "cross-strait common market," Ma and Siew's economic policy which Lee has previously criticized.
When asked to comment on Lee's open support for Ma's rival in the presidential election, the Democratic Progressive Party's Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Ma said he respected Lee's decision and that they had not discussed the issue during their meeting.
Ma's visit to Lee was unusual as the two have not met for the past eight years because of their problematic relationship.
When Lee was the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman he campaigned for Ma when he ran for Taipei mayor against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in 1998. At the election eve party, Lee held Ma's hand high and called him a "new Taiwanese." That open endorsement was seen as a major factor behind Ma's victory.
The relationship, however, went sour when then KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰) lost the presidential election in 2000. Facing a crowd of angry pan-blue supporters, who attributed the KMT's defeat to Lee's leadership, Ma promised to talk to Lee but his request for a meeting was rejected.
Lee was forced out of the KMT and later became the spiritual leader of the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union and condemned Ma and the KMT for seeking closer ties with China.
Ma, who took a box of Japanese apples and four of his own books as gifts, thanked Lee for his encouragement and promised to pay more visits to his former boss.
In return, Lee gave Ma and Siew four books each which were about leadership and Taiwanese independence.
Ma served as justice minister during the 1990s in Lee's KMT administration.
Ma said he would also seek visits with Hsieh, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and outgoing President Chen in the near future.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
SOVEREIGNTY: The rigs show that Beijing ‘rejects Taiwan’s jurisdiction’ by building in areas where Taipei demands permission to build or alter installations Chinese oil rigs have been sighted just 26 nautical miles (42km), from Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), posing a threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty if left unchallenged, a brief published by the Jamestown Foundation on Tuesday said. Pratas Island, 444km from Kaohsiung, is northeast of the South China Sea and houses a Taiwanese garrison. The brief, titled “Rigging the Game: PRC Oil Structures Encroach on Taiwan’s Pratas Island” — referring to the People’s Republic of China — analyzed photographs and said that Beijing’s tools to pressure Taiwan now include oil rigs. “Oil rigs now constitute part of Beijing’s
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in
RSS