Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday was tight-lipped about his meeting with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt in Los Angeles.
The 40-minute meeting was conducted behind closed doors at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
The national flags of the Republic of China and the US were displayed on a table in the meeting room in the California NanoSystems Institute, where the two met.
After emerging from the room, Ko told reporters that he and Burghardt were “just chatting.”
Ko said they did not talk about the changed political landscape in Taiwan after the Jan. 16 elections, a topic Ko had said the two would discuss, nor did Burghardt give him any advice on his political career.
“Do not talk about politics every day,” Ko said.
He said he did not speak about president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) or the issue of importing US beef containing ractopamine as a condition of the nation joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Ko said that Burghardt, as a savvy and tenured diplomat, did not discuss his meeting in Texas with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) — who is in Central America visiting diplomatic allies — with Ma making a transit stop in Houston on Sunday.
Ko said Burghardt spoke about his diplomatic experience in East Asia, while Ko shared stories from his time as a professor and physician at National Taiwan University Hospital.
Ko said the institute was chosen as the venue for the meeting because of its convenient location.
Ko later met with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Ko said Garcetti is to visit Asia twice this year and he would invite Garcetti to visit Taipei on the trips.
He would also invite Garcetti to attend the Summer Universiade, which Taipei is to host next year, Ko said.
Ko said he hopes Taipei and Los Angeles, which are sister cities, can engage in exchanges in transportation, trade, technology and tourism.
In response to questions about reports that Beijing’s influence prompted the Los Angeles City Government to keep the Ko-Garcetti meeting quiet, the Taipei mayor said that every region faces different levels of pressure from China, but the city of Los Angeles sent their own photographers to take pictures of the meeting.
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