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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Tsai and Soong discuss issues
President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, left, yesterday receives a box of tangerines from People First Party Chairman James Soong, center, after a meeting at a hotel in Taipei. Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
MORE TO COME? The president-elect called the meeting an ‘advice-seeking trip’ and said she would exchange opinions on issues with her former rival for the presidency
By Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter
President-elect Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） yesterday met with People First Party （PFP） Chairman James Soong （宋楚瑜） to solicit opinions from her former presidential rival on a wide range of major issues, marking the first meeting between the two after January’s election.
Jointly entering a venue packed with reporters at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel Taipei at 10am yesterday, Tsai and Soong made brief greetings and opening remarks before going behind closed doors for their meeting, which lasted about one-and-a-half hours.
Tsai and Soong were accompanied by a number of staff. On the president-elect’s side were former Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） secretary-general Lin Hsi-yao （林錫耀） — who convened Tsai’s campaign committee — Deputy Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu （洪耀福）, DPP Deputy Secretary-General Jason Liu （劉建忻） and DPP Department of News and Information director Alex Huang （黃重諺）, while Soong was accompanied by PFP Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng （秦金生）, PFP Deputy Secretary-General Ma Chieh-ming （馬傑明）, PFP Culture and Publicity Department director Vivian Huang （黃珊珊） and Soong’s secretary, Wei Chih-chung （魏志中）.
“First of all, I would like to extend my congratulations to [DPP] Chairperson Tsai on her presidential victory. I have not been able to do so in person,” Soong said prior to the meeting.
Soong, who has run against Tsai for the presidency twice, in 2012 and earlier this year, also expressed appreciation for Tsai’s willingness to sit down with him to exchange opinions on pressing problems facing the nation before she takes office on May 20.
Rising above the longstanding blue-versus-green political wrangling and attaching greater importance to livelihood issues was a major focus of my presidential campaign, Soong said.
“I also adopt the same mindset when meeting with president-elect Tsai here today. I shall pour out all I know without reservation,” he said.
Tsai said that while she and Soong were competitors in the presidential race, she always paid close attention to what the PFP chairman said, because he is widely revered as a veteran politician with ample administrative experience.
“I pledged during my campaign that if elected president, I would meet with leaders of other political parties to ensure better inter-party communication,” Tsai said. “We could even establish a platform where we can discuss pressing national and social issues.”
Calling the meeting an “advice-seeking trip,” Tsai said she planned to seek opinions and advice from Soong on Taiwan’s future direction and major issues.
She said the meeting would not be just a one-time thing and that she intends to consult Soong frequently after her inauguration.
At a post-meeting news conference, the pair exchanged gifts.
Tsai gave Soong tea leaves from Alishan （阿里山）, while Soong prepared a box of tangerines from Yunlin County, a fruit that signifies good fortune and is the same color as the PFP’s orange.
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新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
