TAIPEI: Taiwan’s opposition leader Su Tseng-chang is visiting Singapore and expected to meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during a trip kept low-profile because of likely objections from China, reports said yesterday.
Su Tseng-chang, from the China-sceptic Democratic Progressive Party, will also visit the city-state’s founding father Lee Kwan Yew, the United Evening News said.
Party spokesman Lin Chun-hsien declined to comment.
The News said that despite his political affiliations, Su has maintained a cordial friendship with the Lees and has met Lee Kuan Yew four times in the last 10 years.
Taiwan’s close ties with Singapore stretch back to the 1960s when it sent air force and naval officers to the city-state.
But Singapore, which recognises China rather than Taiwan, has been extremely cautious in the handling of any meetings between government officials and politicians from the two sides for fear of irking Beijing.
In the past, visits by top Singaporean officials to Taiwan triggered strong protests from China.
Last year the disclosure of a visit by Taiwan’s defence minister Kao Hua-chu sparked a backlash from Singapore.
A source close to the defence ministry confirmed at the time that a Taiwanese army general had later been forced to scrap his planned visit.
Despite the lack of diplomatic ties, Taiwan has provided training venues for Singapore’s artillery, armoured vehicle and infantry units under a programme of military cooperation known as Operation Hsing Kuang or Starlight.
China still claims Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting unification, by force if necessary, even though ties have improved markedly since a Beijing-friendly government came to power in Taipei in 2008.
Su is a Taiwanese politician of the Democratic Progressive Party. He is the former Premier of the Republic of China.
AFP
