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Soong not mobilizing new political force: legislator

A legislator who is close to People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday rejected media speculation that Soong had visited former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in a bid to mobilize a new political force.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), a former PFP legislator, said it was impossible for Soong to form a political alliance with Lee that would be capable of influencing the year-end city and county chief elections.

“Everyone overinterpreted the meeting,” Lee said, adding that the visit could be described as a meeting between Soong and his former “supervisor.”

Local media were abuzz with speculation after Soong and his secretary visited Lee at the former president’s residence on Sunday afternoon, with Lee and Soong talking for two-and-a-half hours.

Soong’s secretary told reporters that they were simply “catching up.”

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), of which Lee is the spiritual leader, also shrugged off any political implications behind the meeting.

Some media outlets have speculated that a rift had formed between Lee and Soong as a result of Lee’s decision to abolish the Taiwan provincial government during Soong’s term as Taiwan governor in 1998. The split between them continued to widen throughout the next decade, with Soong quitting the KMT and running for president against then KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰) and then Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Soong lost the presidential race after the KMT accused him of stealing NT$160 million (US$4.9 million) in party assets intended for family members of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).

Asked for comment yesterday, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said everyone was glad to see Lee and Soong reconciled.

“Let bygones be bygones ... everyone is glad to see them make peace. After all, they used to be like father and son,” Wang said.

Wang also dismissed the speculation that the meeting was politically motivated.
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