A message of goodwill from President Chen Shui-bian (
"I certainly will deliver a message of goodwill from the president when I meet Jiang," Lee said at a news conference yesterday.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
As the head of the Academia Sinica and this year's presidential envoy to the APEC leaders summit, Lee said yesterday that the meetings are not the place to resolve pragmatic problems, but a goodwill gesture will be certainly delivered. He also said that Chen did not give him concrete instructions about the matter last Friday when the two met.
Lee will depart for Los Cabos, Mexico tomorrow afternoon before which he will still have a chance to meet Chen to discuss details of his mission. Lee will sit next to the US President George W. Bush for four hours and will have the opportunity to meet Jiang.
Answering questions from reporters about what he would say to the two leaders, Lee said, "There are many things to discuss. I don't have any agenda in mind." But he said he would not necessarily ask questions about Sino-US relations and would not mention China's deployment of missiles aimed at Taiwan, because, "That would appear impolite."
"APEC is not the right venue to discuss such issues," he said, adding that, "rather than a field for diplomatic fighting, APEC presents an opportunity for Taiwan to raise its image in the international arena."
The Nobel laureate also said talks with China on the establishment of direct links would not likely materialize at the summit.
After receiving the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1986, Lee had the chance to go to China and visit with Jiang three times during which they talked about technology and education development in China.
"He [Jiang] is not a stranger to me," Lee said.
Denying that Taipei had asked him to pass on any specific message to the Chinese authorities, he said Chen asked him to "give his best regards" to Jiang.
At the news conference, Lee also encouraged Taiwan to have more interaction with China without fearing that Beijing will use direct links as an opportunity to push for unification.
"With the trend of globalization, national boundaries are not that important," he said.
He stressed that the most important thing for Taiwan when attending the APEC meeting is earning respect from other countries by making contributions in the bilateral meetings with leaders from other countries.
He also gave a briefing of his speech which will be delivered at the meeting.
He said oil will run out within 40 years if the current supply and demand of oil continues, and he predicted that there will be an energy crisis within the next 20 years.
Given that research on alternative power sources may not see any real progress within the next 20 years, he said nuclear power might be a temporary solution for this problem.
Since Taiwan and China both joined APEC in 1991, China has blocked Taiwan's presidents and foreign ministers from attending the organization's annual forums.
KMT Deputy Chairman Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), Legislative Vice Speaker Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), and central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) have been consulted by Lee for their experience with APEC.
Also See Stories:
APEC delegation hits Mexican resort
Making the most of the APEC meet
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
COVETED PRIZE: The US president would be a peace prize laureate should he persuade Xi Jinping to abandon military aggression against Taiwan, William Lai said US President Donald Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize should he be able to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to abandon the use of force against Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) told a conservative US radio show and podcast in an interview. The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer, despite the absence of formal ties, but since Trump took office earlier this year he has not announced any new arms sales to the nation. Trump could meet Xi at the APEC summit in South Korea on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Lai, speaking on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton
RSS