Taipei Times
Date: Nov 17, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday dismissed a news report claiming that he informed
President Ma Ying-jeou, right, yesterday shakes hands with officials of the Lions Clubs International at the Presidential Office in Taipei. Photo: CNA
the US of his plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) just four days ahead of time, saying that Washington was given five days’ notice.
“We notified the US government five days before the meeting and it expressed appreciation for our early notice and the ‘zero accidents’ in our relations,” Ma said while meeting with officials of Lions Club International District 300G2 at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Ma said that his administration would never let the US learn about such a development from the media, adding that Washington welcomed and supported his decision.
His comments came one day after the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) published an exclusive story that cited a “credible source” as saying that Ma’s administration had only notified the US government of the Xi meeting via the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on Nov. 3. [FULL STORY]
