Responding to criticism of Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen's (
"I deeply apologize for the words I said which made others uncomfortable," Lu quoted Chen as saying.
In response to press queries on Chen's remarks, a spokesman for Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry said, "This is not the first time Singapore has stated our concerns about Taiwan. Many other countries also believe that Taiwan is pursuing a dangerous course towards independence. Resort[ing] to intemperate language cannot assuage these concerns."
Infuriated by his Singaporean counterpart George Yeo's criticism of Taiwan during the recent UN General Assembly, Chen called the city-state "a tiny nation no bigger than a piece of snot."
He also said, "Singapore holds China's lan pa (
In the Hoklo language, also known as Taiwanese, lan pa means testicles; saying that someone holds another's lan pa means that the former is fawning over the latter.
Chen was venting his anger over what he considered to be Singapore's attempt to curry favor with China.
The foreign minister harbored no malice in his comments on Singapore, Lu said. He added that the reason Chen used the earthy figures of speech was because he was meeting with local people and wanted to use terms that were easily understood by the general public when discussing the nation's situation on the international stage.
Lu said that the ministry explained this reason for Chen's choice of idioms to the Singaporean mission in Taipei, and that the envoys had responded that they understood. Lu stressed the nation's ties with Singapore remain good.
Executive Yuan spokesman Chen Chi-mai (
Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (
Su also said it was inappropriate for him to comment further on the issue.
In response's to Chen's comments, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus whip Tsai Huang-liang (
Tsai admitted that the DPP is indeed dissatisfied with Singapore, but said that Chen's words were inappropriate since he represents the country.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chang (
"Even though Chen was not satisfied with Singapore's recent actions, he should not let his emotions affect him like this since he represents the nation," Chang said.
"He should have fought back in a more indirect and sophisticated way, instead of using such low-class language," Chang said.
The legislator also served as a foreign minister under the KMT regime.
"The legislator-turned-minister should really go to the training center of his ministry and take some diplomatic training there," the minister-turned-legislator said.
Another KMT lawmaker, Bill Sun (
"In fact, Chen's comments were made to attract votes from the pro-independence camp," Sun said yesterday. "However, the nation's people will pay a considerable price for this eventually."
"Most of Taiwan's diplomatic allies are much smaller than Singapore. The ministry should immediately apologize for such inappropriate criticism," Sun said.
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