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Lee tells paper he would like to be adviser to Ma

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has told a Japanese daily that he is interested in serving as an adviser to the new government on affairs concerning Taiwan-Japan relations, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported yesterday.

The CNA report said that Lee, in an interview with the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun, said that Taiwan-Japan relations were more important than cross-strait relations and Taiwan needed to cooperate with Tokyo for the sake of its economic development.

Asked whether he would consider taking any position in the new administration, Lee was quoted as saying that positions should be reserved for young people.

On cross-strait issues, CNA quoted Lee as saying in the Yomiuri Shimbun interview that Taiwan is a sovereign state and that it has been unable to find a solution to cross-strait tension for decades. Lee told the paper that he didn’t think Taiwan and China would move toward unification, CNA said.

President-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policy platforms calling for direct transportation between Taiwan and China as well as the opening up of Taiwan to Chinese tourists were supported by Lee, who said that the implementation would see improvement of cross-strait relations.

Lee, however, disapproved of Ma’s proposal to sign a peace agreement with China.

Ma said during and after his presidential campaign that he wanted to start negotiations with Beijing on a peace agreement, but that China must first remove its missiles targeting Taiwan.

The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) victory in the March 22 presidential election marked the second transfer of power in Taiwan, which Lee said reflected the deepening of the nation’s democratic development after his own efforts at democratization during his presidency.

Lee also told the Yomiuri Shimbun that he was interested in visiting Japan again this year. Lee and his wife, Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠), made a 10-day visit to Japan last May.
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