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KMT dismisses Wu, Hu speculation

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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