Taiwan KMT chief in Singapore ahead of China visit
By Geert De Clercq
SINGAPORE, April 17 (Reuters) - Lien Chan, the leader of Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party, met Singapore statesman Lee Kuan Yew at the weekend, just weeks before Lien is set to make a controversial visit to China.
Singapore authorities played down the visit as "private and unofficial", though the city-state has in the past acted as a go-between between China and Taiwan, which China views as a breakaway province.
"Lien Chan was invited by Lee Kuan Yew to give a speech. He was the guest of honour at a dinner hosted by Lee (on Saturday night), Chang Jung-kung, a spokesman for the Nationalist Party, also known as the Kuomintang (KMT), told Reuters.
Lee was Singapore's prime minister from 1965 to 1990 and remains an influential cabinet member as Minister Mentor in his son Lee Hsien Loong's government.
A delegation of the Kuomintang -- which favours eventual unification with a democratic China -- visited China early this month, the first official visit since 1949, when the party that once ruled all of China fled to Taiwain after losing a civil war to the communists. Lien is expected to visit China in May, in a move likely to irk pro-independence Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, who is shunned by the Chinese government.
The Kuomintang spokesman denied reports in Taiwan media that said Lien had met a Chinese official in Singapore.
"Lien Chan made a private and unofficial visit at the invitation of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy," a Singapore government spokesman said.
Lien gave a speech behind closed doors at the school on Sunday morning, an official said.
"The mainland Chinese trust LKY (Lee Kuan Yew). He's supposed to see how they can ease the cross-Strait tension," a source close to the school told Reuters, referring to the Taiwan Strait.
Although Taiwan and Singapore have no official relations, they have maintained close ties since the 1960s, when Taiwan began allowing Singapore's armed forces to train on the island. Lee rose to power on an anti-communist platform and Singapore did not establish diplomatic relations with China until 1990, a month before Lee stepped down as prime minister.
But diplomats say Lee is trusted by China and Taiwan and played a key role in setting up historic talks between the two in Singapore in April 1993.
Singapore-China relations hit a bump last year, when Lee Hsien Loong visited Taiwan just before becoming prime minister.
Relations have warmed since then. During a visit to Hong Kong in April, Lee senior said China's anti-secession law had stabilised the tension between China and Taiwan by removing ambiguity.
On March 14, China's parliament passed an anti-secession bill that authorises the use of force against Taiwan if the democratic island declares independence. (Additional reporting by Alice Hung)