Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
At the KMT's central headquarters yesterday, party Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (
A press release issued by the Presidential Office yesterday confirmed the KMT's statement and added that Yu had originally called to tell Lin to convey Chen's willingness to personally call Lien before the trip.
"[Since] President Chen has such expectations, we will not let him down," Lin said yesterday morning.
Lin also said that while he would prefer to meet with Yu after his trip to China next week, he would also be open to the possibility of meeting earlier.
Lin will be heading to Beijing next week to discuss the final details of Lien's tour of China with China's Taiwan Affairs Office.
The news about the phone call came as a positive note in the ongoing conflict between the administration and the KMT over Lien's trip to China. Given that the Lien trip is being made in response to an invitation extended by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last month, the administration has alternately urged the KMT to discuss the matter with it and looked into the legality of the ten proposals produced during KMT's Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun's (
Despite the friendly move yesterday, conflict between the administration and the KMT was apparent.
Speaking at the KMT's Central Advisory Council (CAC) meeting yesterday, Lien said that recent comments by Vice President Annette Lu (
Saying that Lu had been to China in 1990 to visit her family's ancestral home, Lien said that viewing Lu's 1990 trip as permissable and his trip as collaboration with the CCP was unfair. In comparison, Lien said, he will be going for only a few days and his schedule will be made public, unlike Lu, who was in China for 26 days on a private visit.
Lien also said that he will report the details of his trip to the public once the details are settled by Lin. While Lin will be heading to China next week, Lien headed to Singapore late yesterday to speak at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy with Chiang. Lien is expected to return today.
Another focus of media attention yesterday were reports by the Chinese-language newspapers United Daily News and China Times that during Lien's trip, Lien and Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Speaking at KMT headquarters yesterday, Lin denied that the KMT had plans to sign such an agreement with the CCP.
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