Lee made the remarks in reply to questions from report on the appointment of Lai as chairwoman of the MAC by the Ma’s administration, before attending a seminar held by the Lee Teng-hui School at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel (Keelung).

“It’s not me who recommended Lai to head the MAC. In fact, Mr. Ma came to me to ask for my agreement on allowing Lai to take the post,” Lee said.

“Ma told me that the Kuomintang is proceeding too fast with the liberalization of exchanges with the mainland, and therefore he needs Lai to serve as a brake,” Lee continued.

But when asked to comment on whether Ma has run counter to his own personal concept or whether Lai has failed to function well to slow down the government’s liberalization move, Lee said he didn’t know and then left.

As the government has implemented a spate of liberalization policies on cross-strait exchanges, such as allowing direct visits to Taiwan by mainland Chinese tourists, launching direct charter flights across the Taiwan Straits, and relaxing ceiling limits on investment in mainland China. All these are deemed running counter to the TSU’s own mainland China policies.

Meanwhile, during yesterday’s seminar, Lee said that “all the 23 million people in Taiwan should recognize this land, no matter whether their ancestors came to Taiwan sooner or later.”

All the people on the island should move to get rid of the “one China” shadow and develop Taiwan into a democratic country with its own sovereignty and become Taiwanese in a new era.