Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) yesterday said he had not complained about the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or said that he had “put up with the KMT for too long.”
Chiang made the remarks yesterday after a story by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) yesterday quoted “pan-green lawmakers” as saying that when Chiang visited Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers at Legislator Ker Chien-ming’s (柯建銘) office on Tuesday, Chiang told them that he was kept out of the decision-making loop making him just a “rubber stamp” and that he was not certain how long he would keep his job, the report said.
Chiang yesterday said he did not complain about the KMT, but added that he did feel regretful, however, that some had attacked him to detract from the merits of the cross-strait negotiations.
Ker told reporters yesterday that Chiang had visited him at his office on Tuesday to explain why he was absent from a meeting in which he and Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) should have briefed lawmakers on the details of preparatory cross-strait talks.
Ker said DPP legislators Kao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), Yu Tian (余天) and Hsueh Ling (薛凌) joined him in meeting with Chiang.
He said Chiang complained to them that although his SEF chairmanship is a post without remuneration, he worked very hard every day to help China-based Taiwanese businesspeople and he was disappointed that he was facing an awkward situation.
“Chiang said he has been ‘tortured’ by the KMT for a long time,” Ker said.
He added that Chiang had said he doubted how long he could keep the post.
Ker said that Chiang complained that he was a rubber stamp in cross-strait talks and that the KMT did not allow him to join policymaking circles on cross-strait policies.
Ker added that Chiang said he had written a letter to high-ranking KMT officials, explaining he and his family did not use his post to gain business privileges in China, and his son would reduce his business in China gradually.
Chiang last week expressed regret following allegations that his son had obtained a special permit from China to sell steel, saying he had asked his family to reduce business ties with China after taking up his post.
Local media last week speculated that Chiang would be replaced.
Chiang and his counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), are scheduled to conduct the third round of cross-strait negotiation in Nanjing from Saturday through Wednesday.
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