President Ma Ying-jeou has arrived in Singapore to pay tribute to its founding father Lee Kuan Yew. Lee died Monday at the age of 91 after being hospitalized for weeks with pneumonia.
The president paid his final respects to Lee in his private capacity. He was accompanied by former Foreign Minister Frederick Chien and former Secretary-General of the National Security Council Hu Wei-chen.
Singapore is scheduled to hold a state funeral on March 29th. The government has no plans to send a delegation to attend the funeral. But Taiwan’s representative to Singapore, Hsieh Fa-dah, and a former government official plan to attend the event.
Foreign Minister David Lin also went to the Singapore Trade Office in Taipei to send his condolences on behalf of the government and the Taiwanese people.
Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry said President Ma’s chartered flight was escorted by military aircraft.