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| Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao meets with former US secretary of defense William Cohen at the ministry yesterday. PHOTO: LU CHIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES |
Cohen meets with navy commander
ALTERIOR MOTIVE: Local media said the former US secretary of defense may lobby for his consulting firm to represent the navy in its purchase of diesel submarinesBy Monique Chu
STAFF REPORTER
WITH AFP
Former US secretary of defense William Cohen yesterday met Naval Commander-in-Chief Lee Jye (§õ³Ç) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (¥Ð¥°Z) ahead of a major purchase of submarines by Taiwan.
Cohen, however, declined to confirm speculation that his visit to Taiwan was linked to his private business in related lobbying surrounding Taiwan's purchase of submarines.
"The reason I have come to Taiwan is to renew friendships that I have established over the years. I first came to Taiwan back in 1973," said Cohen when asked if his visit to Taiwan was for the submarine purchase.
Military sources told the Taipei Times that Cohen visited the Tsoying Military Port yesterday morning, accompanied by Lee Jye.
The group visited the sites slated for the mooring of Taiwan's new submarines to be bought from the US as well as the Kidd-class destroyers, sources said.
Cohen made the statement at the foreign ministry after his 30-minute closed-door meeting with Tien yesterday afternoon.
The issue of submarine purchases by Taiwan was not touched upon during the talk, Tien said afterwards.
Cohen also met with Lee yesterday afternoon although details of the closed-door meeting were unavailable.
Local media said Cohen might have been lobbying for his consulting company to represent Taiwan's navy in its purchase of eight diesel submarines although officials declined to confirm the speculation.
Cohen, who arrived here on Tuesday, also met with Lin Chong-pin (ªL¤¤Ùy), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, yesterday morning.
Cohen is also scheduled to meet with President Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó) and Defense Minister Wu Shih-wen (¥î¥@¤å) before he leaves today to continue his tour of Asia.
Cohen is scheduled to hold a press conference at CKS airport today before his departure in the afternoon.
The US approved the sale of eight diesel submarines in April, as well as four Kidd-class destroyers and 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft in the US' biggest arms package to Taipei since 1992.
The US, however, has stopped building non-nuclear submarines so the diesel submarines will have to be contracted out to another country.
Military sources here say Taiwan's navy favors German 209-class submarines or Dutch-designed Moray subs. But both European countries have said they will not get involved in arms sales to Taiwan.
According to the US timetable, construction of the first diesel submarine is scheduled to begin in 2005 with delivery slated for 2011.
Taiwan's navy currently operates a fleet of four submarines including two Dutch-built Sword Dragon subs and two US Guppy-class vessels built in the 1940s.
The Associated Press
October 25, 2001, Thursday, BC cycle
SECTION: International News
HEADLINE: Al Gore plans to visit Taiwan, risking new attention on fund-raising controversy
DATELINE: TAIPEI, Taiwan
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore plans to visit Taiwan next month to address the first meeting of a global commission that seeks to protect religious sites, officials said Thursday.
By coming to this island, Gore might attract new attention to a fund-raising controversy that involved him, a Taiwan-born fund-raiser and a temple founded by a Taiwanese Buddhist sect. The issue became a hot topic during Gore's presidential bid last year. During the 1996 presidential campaign, Gore attended an illegal fund-raising event at the Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif. He later insisted he didn't realize the temple event was a fund-raiser.
Last year, a Taiwan-born fund-raiser involved in the event, Maria Hsia, was convicted by a U.S. court of arranging more than $100,000 in illegal contributions to Democrats during the 1996 election campaign. Hsia's longtime ties to Gore were closely examined in the case.
Gore plans to visit Taiwan on Nov. 9 and address the inaugural meeting of the Global Commission for the Preservation of Sacred Sites, a news release from the New York office of the Ruder Finn public relations firm. The commission seeks ways to protect religious sites, the statement said.
The American Institute in Taiwan - the main U.S. representative office on the island - confirmed Gore's plans to come to Taiwan.
Gore visited Taiwan in 1989, a trip organized by Hsia and two longtime supporters of former President Clinton: Indonesian businessman James Riady and Riady aide John Huang.
During that trip, Gore met with the head of the Buddhist sect whose temple in California became the site of the 1996 fund-raiser.
Gore did not visit Taiwan during his eight years as vice president, fearing that such a trip would enrage Beijing, which claims the self-ruling island is part of China.
Clinton planned to visit Taiwan last month, but he canceled the trip because of security concerns surrounding the Sept. 11 terror attack in the United States.