Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Vanessa Shih (史亞平) yesterday
dismissed rumors that she was too close to one of former
Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s (李光耀) sons as
“groundless.”
“It is not true. Like all the other rumors, they are all off base,”
Shih said.
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Sho-wen
(張碩文) said sources within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had told
him that Lee once pointed his finger at Shih and it seemed that he
was “enraged” at Shih or that he “blamed” her for something.
Lee was unhappy with Shih because she was too close to his youngest
son, Lee Hsien Yang (李顯揚), Chang said.
Lee Hsien Yang, 55, is married with three children.
Asked to elaborate on the nature of the alleged relationship, Chang
said he would like to think that the reason why Shih approached Lee
Hsien Yang was for help negotiating a bilateral trade deal — the
Agreement between Singapore and the Separate Customs Territory of
Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Partnership
(ASTEP).
Chang said he viewed the matter from a positive standpoint: that it
was for the sake of the ASTEP negotiations “rather than the other
way around, as rumored within the ministry.”
In response to Chang’s comments, Shih called for an end to all the
rumors.
“The spread of baseless rumors not only causes harm to the parties
concerned, it is also impolite to [Lee Hsien Yang],” Shih said.
“I did not have any official dealings with Mr Lee [Hsien Yang] and
we had no personal friendship. You could say that I am not
acquainted with him. I have made it crystal clear. There is no gray
area in the matter,” Shih said.
The rumor surfaced when Chang made it public on a TV political talk
show on Wednesday afternoon, at a time when the Control Yuan was
struggling to convince the public about its investigation, led by
Chou Yang-shan (周陽山), who said he found that Shih “damaged”
Taiwan-Singapore relations because of a “dereliction of duty” when
she was posted to the country.
The Control Yuan on Wednesday decided to uphold an earlier decision
that the results of Chou’s investigation should remain classified
to protect relations between Taiwan and Singapore, leaving
questions regarding Shih’s performance in the city-state to
linger.
Asked if the relationship between Shih and Lee Hsien Yang was part
of his findings, Chou said he learned a lot of information during
his investigation, but he did not include it all in his report.
“Unless I have evidence beyond a shadow of a doubt, I can’t include
it in my report. On that [the alleged relationship], I can only say
I have no comment,” Chou said.
Chou said the decision not to declassify the report was made by 16
or 17 of the 20 members of a meeting of the Committee on Foreign
and Overseas Chinese Affairs on Wednesday.
Under fire for not being able to substantiate the charges he
brought against Shih, Chou said the central part of his report was
based on the daily work record kept by the representative office in
Singapore and that was classified information.
Chou has also denied accusations by some KMT lawmakers that he took
revenge on Shih because the representative office reportedly did
not treat him very well when he was in Singapore.
People First Party Legislator Thomas Lee (李桐豪) yesterday said Chou
should consider stepping down if he failed to prove that his
investigation was evidence-based.
Posted by temasektimes on July 19, 2012
The former Taiwanese
representative to Singapore Shi Ya Ping (史亞平) reportedly had
‘close’ ties with a son of Lee Kuan Yew, the Taiwanese media
exposed yesterday.
Lee Kuan
Yew is a former Prime Minister of Singapore and still wields
tremendous influence behind the scenes though he is no longer a
cabinet minister.
Lee has
two sons – Lee Hsien Loong, the present Prime Minister of Singapore
and Lee Hsien Yang, currently the CEO of a public-listed company in
Singapore.
However,
Shi rubbished the rumors immediately, claiming that she did not
know both Lees.
In a
public statement issued yesterday, Shi said:
“There is no such thing. Many rumors are without foundation
or truth…..they not only cause distress to those involved, but also
very rude to Lee Kuan Yew’s son. I have clarified repeatedly that
when I would never transgress the boundaries in the course of my
diplomatic work. I have never met or contacted the public figures
in question.”
(完全沒有這回事」，很多傳聞都是沒有根據的，而這些沒有事實的傳聞，大家一再傳播、擴大，不但對當事人造成困擾，對對方(李光耀之子)來講，也是非常的不禮貎，「我巳經一再重申，我在從事外交工作時，一定不會有逾矩或不禮貎的行為。」「我和傳聞中的這位公眾人物沒有私交、不認識也沒有接觸。」)
The news was not reported in the
Singapore media which is completely owned and controlled by the
government headed by Lee.
http://temasektimes.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/ex-taiwanese-representative-to-singapore-has-close-ties-with-lee-kuan-yews-son-taiwanese-media/
_________
REPORTED
IN TAIWAN MEDIA SHIH WAS ASKED TO LEAVE THE TAIWAN REP OFFICE IN
SINGAPORE.