President Ma Ying-jeou has praised the concern Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew showed towards Taiwan during his lifetime. Ma was speaking to reporters after returning from a memorial ceremony for Lee, who passed away on Monday.
Lee visited Taiwan 25 times during his life, more than any other head of state. Ma noted Lee’s longstanding concern about the development of peaceful cross-strait relations. He said Lee arranged for Singapore to host a groundbreaking meeting between high ranking officials from both sides in 1993.
Ma made his brief trip to Singapore as an “old friend”, and told reporters he had not announced the trip in advance out of respect for a prior agreement with the Singaporean authorities.
He thanked the Singaporean government for giving him a chance to express his condolences and said he hopes that Taiwan and Singapore will continue to enjoy a strong relationship in the future.