New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said he and former US deputy national security adviser Stephen Yates discussed Taiwan-US ties and the emergence of the so-called “naturally independence-leaning” young people in Taiwan during dinner on Saturday night.
The dinner at a hot pot restaurant in Taipei was arranged after Lim on Thursday extended a Facebook invitation to Yates, who served as deputy security adviser to former US vice president Dick Cheney.
“I did not expect that Yates followed my Facebook page. Then I assume he will see this message: ‘Hi. How are you? Do you want to grab mutton hot pot with me?” Lim wrote on Facebook.
Photo taken from Freddy Lim’s Facebook page
The singer-turned-politician on Saturday evening posted a photograph on Facebook showing him, Yates and a friend of Yates eating mutton hot pot and drinking beer.
“I posted a message inviting my Facebook friend Stephen Yates to have mutton hot pot with me a few days ago. I never thought it would really happen on the night before his scheduled departure,” Lim wrote.
Lim said that Yates, who is an adviser on US president-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, shared with him Trump’s campaign process.
“I told him about the social changes in Taiwan in recent years and the naturally independence-leaning young people’s intention to play a more active role in politics. I expressed the hope that Taiwan and the US would develop a normal, friendly relationship,” Lim said.
Political discussion did not go on for too long, Lim said, adding that they soon switched to lighter topics including parenting, rock ’n’ roll and tattoos.
“I look forward to another get-together with my Facebook friend either in the US or Taiwan,” he added.
Lim yesterday said that he told Yates about young Taiwanese’s perception of other nations, adding that Yates did not talk about how the US plans to interact with Taiwan’s “naturally pro-independence” youth.
“We talked about the development of Taiwan-US relations. Although we see good opportunities, the ties should nevertheless move forward in a pragmatic and discreet manner,” Lim said.
Yates arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday last week on a personal visit and returned to the US yesterday.
Yates had reportedly helped facilitate a telephone call between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Trump, but he has denied the reports.
During his stay, Yates met with Tsai as well as a number of politicians, including Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維), New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), Democratic Progressive Party legislators Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) and Chen Ming-wen (陳明文), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), and NPP legislators Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明).
Additional reporting by CNA
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