Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials dismissed media speculation yesterday that KMT Chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄) plans to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
When approached for comment, KMT Communication and Culture Committee chief Huang Yu-cheng (黃玉振) said the party did not know of any plan to hold such a meeting.
He did not elaborate.
Huang's remark came after a story in the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday citing an anonymous source as saying that China had taken the initiative to invite Wu to meet Hu in Beijing by May 20.
The source said that KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), the designated chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), would meet Jia Qinglin (賈慶林), the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) fourth ranking official, during a trip to China this week to negotiate details of the Wu-Hu meeting.
The story also said that Wu planned to encourage Taiwanese athletes to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer.
However, Chang Rong-kung (張榮恭), director of the KMT's Mainland Affairs Department, said yesterday that Chiang did not plan to visit Beijing during his trip to China from Thursday to Sunday, adding that his destinations only included Shanghai, Kunshan, Xiamen and Shenzhen.
The KMT announced yesterday that Chiang Pin-kun would visit the cities to thank KMT supporters for their role in the party's presidential election success.
In related news, premier-designate Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) is scheduled to announce the new government's Cabinet lineup this morning.
However, president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) remained low-profile yesterday regarding the future education minister.
During a visit to Yong Kang Elementary School in Tainan County, Ma stressed the importance of education, saying that the nation had only been able to take the lead in the international high-tech industry because of the its education system.
When asked for comment, Wu Ching-chi (吳清基), director of Taipei's Education Department, who has been tipped in the media to take over at the Ministry of Education, was also tight-lipped on the issue.
Meanwhile, Steve Chan (詹啟賢), Ma's top aide, admitted that he and Ma's long-term aide King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) disagreed on certain issues during the presidential campaign but shrugged off media speculation that he declined to join Ma's administration because he had fallen out with King.
"I did not leave because I felt wronged and acted rashly, for this would be wrong," Chan said when approached by reporters in front of his residence in Taipei.
Being in the presidential campaign and becoming a member of the Cabinet were different, he said, adding that "those who had been designated as Cabinet officials were not necessarily part of the campaign."
Chan said he would continue to offer Ma assistance until Ma assumes office on May 20.
"[Even if I am] not going to be a member of the administration, we remain good friends. [I] can still give him a lot of advice," he said.
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Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
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