The American Institute in Taiwan's (AIT) new Director Stephen Young yesterday afternoon paid a courtesy call to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Young said he would recommend Wang to President Chen Shui-bian (
Wang related Young's remarks to the media after meeting with him for about an hour.
Wang said he exchanged opinions with Young on cross-strait relations and ties between Taiwan and the US.
Later, Young, speaking with reporters in Mandarin and Holko (commonly known as Taiwanese), said he was happy to see his old friend and Kaohsiung native and stressed that there were "no secrets" at the meeting.
"What we talked about was Taiwan and the US regaining their friendship," Young said.
Asked whether the US had upgraded its official reception of Chinese Nationalist Party and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"We have friendly contacts with all our Taiwanese friends, so we welcome Chairman Ma or Mayor Ma to visit the US," Young said. "We do not play any tricks."
"If Mr Wang comes to the US, we would welcome him likewise," Young added.
During the meeting, describing relations between Taiwan and China as a "sun emerging" after bad weather, Young said the US might sign a free trade agreement with Taiwan in May.
According to Wang, Young also said the US hoped Taiwan and China could resume dialogue as soon as possible.
"Young said the US is willing to see me play the key role of facilitating cross-strait talks and he would recommend me to President Chen if there was a chance to bring up this issue," Wang said.
Wang said that they did not talk about the NUC during the meeting.
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