A planned dinner date between Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Anson Chan (陳方安生), Hong Kong's chief secretary for administration, fell flat yesterday when Chan failed to show up.
The no-show, on the penultimate day of Ma's visit to Hong Kong, was due to her "tight schedule," according to King Pu-tsung
But Beijing's interference was widely suspected to have been behind Chan's absence -- seen by many as just part of a continuing series of attempts by China to force her out of the civil service.
Chan had enjoyed overwhelming popularity over Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華), but plans to quit in April.
Meanwhile, taking half an hour off from his private dinner appointment to talk with the Taiwan media, Ma said the best way to break the current impasse in cross-strait relations was to take one step at a time.
"Cross-strait relations cannot be solved overnight, nor by use of force," Ma said.
"Since I was involved in the drafting of the Guidelines for Nation Unification
Regarding a story published yesterday by a Beijing English-language newspaper, the China Daily, which quoted Ma as saying that Taiwan should accept the principle of "one country, two systems," Ma said that the newspaper had later admitted that it had made a mistake.
"They told us that they'll run a correction in tomorrow's edition," he said.
Ma's high-profile visit and popularity in the territory had been seen by some as an attempt to embarrass President Chen Shui-bian
Ma, however, again threw his weight behind his old rival.
"I hope Hong Kong and China can give President Chen some credit for showing so many good intentions since taking office," the mayor said.
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