TSU lawmakers denied yesterday that relations between President Chen Shui-bian (
Recent media reports have said relations between Chen and Lee have grown bitter because of disagreements over investment policy toward China, and the dispute was an opportunity for the KMT to mend fences with Lee.
But TSU lawmakers yesterday maintained that Chen remains Lee's only political ally.
"The purpose of saying that Chen and Lee are at odds is to create division between the two," said TSU lawmaker Su Ying-kwei (蘇盈貴). "In fact, they share common ground in terms of the `Taiwan first' principle. ... Lee thinks highly of Chen."
Since the beginning of this year, rumors of a dispute between Chen and his mentor over China policy have been persistent.
While Lee strongly opposes "China fever" and implemented the "no haste, be patient" investment policy as president, Chen prefers a less intrusive position, seeing investment in China as an inevitable trend.
A Chinese-language newspaper report yesterday further brought the Lee-Chen relationship into question. The report said the government's decision to allow Taiwanese companies to invest in eight-inch wafer plants in China had caused friction between the two.
According to the report, while Lee was hospitalized last month to receive treatment for pneumonia, he refused Chen's visit out of anger.
Later, Lee expressed his discontent toward Chen to KMT Vice Chairman and legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Su said the report was misleading. He said the reason why Lee was reluctant to meet Chen was because he was physically in bad shape at the time -- not because he was upset.
The ex-president thinks highly of Chen's ability, but sometimes Lee considers himself "a better leader" because he knows how to implement policies in a more "mature manner," according to Su.
"It's just like the differences on how to cope with complicated matters between grown-ups and children," Lee was quoted as saying. "When the DPP makes mistakes, [the TSU] has the responsibility to correct them."
Su said there was no chance of Lee collaborating with the opposition parties because he sees KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
On Friday, Chen also said there wasn't any dispute with Lee, saying it was unfair to portray their relations in a negative light.
Chen also said he didn't know on what information reporters were basing their reports, because no other person has ever joined his private meetings with Lee.
The president also dismissed reports that meetings between Chen and Lee have been getting shorter, a sign that they don't enjoy talking to each other.
The last time they met, Chen said, "We talked for two hours. Was this considered too short?"
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