Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General James Huang called a press conference to strike down press reports stating that possible cooperation between the ruling and the opposition will be even more difficult now that mutual trust between President Chen Shui-bian and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng has been broken due to differing interpretations on the president's New Year's Day address. Reports indicated that there might be a change to the invitation for Speaker Wang to form the new Cabinet as a result. He flatly refuted the speculation and said that the groundless report was an intentional incitement which was inconsistent with reality.
Deputy Secretary-General Huang said that the Office of the President expressed deep regret that such reports that simply do not tally with the facts and are intentionally meant to stir up controversy had gone to print. He said that these kinds of incitements not only led to social discord, but also had a negative affect on government process and was in breach of the media's social responsibility. He said that the working relationship, mutual trust and communication between the President and the speaker of the Legislative Yuan is very good. There is no "breach of trust causing the opposition to leave the game" situation as alleged by the media.
Huang further said that the President had agreed with Wang not to release the details of their December 31, 2005 meeting out of respect for the Speaker. The President announced that his New Year's Day address was completely in keeping with what was discussed with the Speaker and that there was no such occurrence of Speaker Wang being "left out in the cold" or there being "a difference of opinion on the current state of cross-Strait relations."
As for a major article on detailing the President's appointment of the Speaker to visit Honduras and attend the inauguration ceremony for the incoming Honduran president, Huang asseverated that the President had Wang foremost and exclusively in his mind as the candidate for the delegation immediately after the tumult of the local government elections. It was then that he asked Wang for his opinion on the matter and Wang agreed with his decision. It was as simple as that, so media reports of Wang competing with others for the visit are totally unfounded, Huang said.
Huang refuted numerous news reports and word of mouth stating that the President has asked the Speaker to form the Cabinet, saying that the President never had any intention to do so. He said, suppose that the President had the intention of asking the Speaker to form the Cabinet, why then would he send the Speaker to Honduras at the end of January, which is a crucial period for the Cabinet appointments. With this, Huang expressed regret over the erroneous media reports, which he said sure would continue anyway. He reinforced a comment made by the Speaker, "why stir things up where there is nothing?" The Office of the President would like the media to realize "there is nothing" and stop creating nonsense thereby causing social difficulties, Huang said.