The Cabinet yesterday showed an invitation letter from Leung Chun-ying (梁振英), a Beijing-favored candidate for Hong Kong’s next chief executive, to support its statement that Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) had visited the territory on Sept. 5 to learn about mudslide prevention.
“We have made the letter public,” Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) told a press conference. “Now those who have accused [Wu] of going to Hong Kong to ask [Chinese authorities] for instructions, please show proof.”
In the letter addressed to “Secretary-General Wu,” referring to Wu’s position then in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Leung said he would wait respectfully for Wu and his family at 12:30pm and brief Wu about mountain protection. The letter was dated Sept. 4.
Wu has said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) asked whether he would be interested in assuming the premiership on Sept. 3 and Sept 4. Wu left for Hong Kong on Sept. 5 and returned the next afternoon. The Presidential Office announced on Sept. 7 that Ma had appointed Wu as the new premier. Wu was sworn into office on Sept. 10.
Wu’s short trip to Hong Kong right after Ma asked him about the premiership drew the suspicion of the Democratic Progressive Party, which accused Wu of discussing his premiership plans with China via Leung.
Su also presented another letter that Leung sent Wu on Aug. 20 in which Leung expressed his thanks for meeting Wu when he was in Taiwan on Aug. 14 and his hope that Taiwan’s post-disaster reconstruction work would proceed smoothly.
Another document presented by Su showed that Jeff Yang (楊家駿), Taiwan’s representative to Hong Kong, helped fixed the date and time for the meeting between Leung and Wu last month.
Leung had been invited to deliver a speech by the Lung Yingtai Cultural Foundation.
Su dismissed reports whether Leung was an expert on mudslide prevention, saying Hong Kong had set up its mudslide warning system in 1972.
“Although Taiwan has its own system, there are advantages and disadvantages to both systems, which was why an exchange of ideas is necessary. Premier Wu had referred [what he had learned in Hong Kong] to the Council of Agriculture for reference,” Su said.
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