Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) denied yesterday that he had visited China after the presidential election.
"During the last two years I've never set foot in China," the Nobel laureate told the Budgets and Final Accounts Committee at the Legislative Yuan yesterday when answering a question about his travels from KMT lawmaker Liu Shen-liang (劉盛良).
When asked what he would do if the allegations were true, Lee's answer was direct. "Then shoot me," he said, drawing a roomful of laughter.
PHOTO: LIAO JUI-HSIANG, LIBERTY TIMES
A Hong Kong-based newspaper reported in May that Lee allegedly paid two confidential visits to China in a move to ease the rising tension between Taiwan and China after Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) won the presidential election on March 18. One of Lee's aides denied the report on May 19.
While Lee was scheduled to answer questions regarding the research institution's final accounts, lawmakers took the opportunity to bombard him with questions on his comments on cross-strait relations, the new government's performance and whether he would become the next premier.
Lee was clearly unhappy with the questions and the way lawmakers were acting.
"I am not President Chen. But the way you are acting, you'd think that it was me who was responsible for all the affairs [of the new government]. This is just not right," he said.
But Lee's statement failed to channel the lawmakers back to what Lee seemed to think was the purpose of the meeting. KMT lawmakers such as Chu Li-luan (朱立倫) and Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said they were dubious about the ability of the new government to give senior citizens aged 65 and older a NT$3,000 monthly subsidy starting from July 1.
The pension scheme for the elderly is part of President Chen's welfare plan, the so-called "333 family welfare program" (
Fielding questions fired by Chu, Lee said that it was not necessary for the administration to follow through with everything that was said in the heat of the campaign.
"Simply because something is advocated during a campaign does not mean that it must automatically be put into practice later," Lee said. "The issue must be clearly examined and understood in the light of current circumstances. If, under these conditions, the proposal turns out not to be feasible, it must be reviewed and even amended," he said.
Lee, who expressed his open support for Chen during the last week of the campaign, said the public should give the new government time to improve.
Lee said the DPP is not an ideal party, considering the internal discord among its various factions. But he said that it was still an important step for the DPP to experience the island's first transfer of power from the KMT.
If members of the new administration failed to do their jobs during Chen's four-year term, people would choose someone else four years from now, he said.
Lee also said he would not take up the post of premier because he found himself more comfortable being a scientist rather than a politician.
Born in 1936 in Hsinchu, Lee won a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1986. He resettled in Taiwan to lead the Academia Sinica in 1994 after decades of work in the US. In 1996, former President Lee Teng-hui (
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