KMT Presidential candidate to Visit India, Singapore

Taipei, May 28 (UNI) Main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou will visit India and Singapore in mid-June as part of his effort to raise his diplomatic profile in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, sources close to Ma said.

According to the sources, Ma will head for India June on 11 for a three-day visit during which he will meet with Indian officials, major political party leaders and senior business executives for wide-ranging talks, the central news agency reported.

Ma is scheduled to leave India for Singapore on late June 13 where he will meet with Singaporean politicians, including senior officials, for exchange of views on matters of mutual interest, the sources said yesterday, adding that Ma will wrap up his two-leg overseas tour and return to Taipei on June 15.

The sources further said John Feng, a retired ambassador who is in charge of diplomatic policy affairs at Ma's campaign office, will travel to India to arrange Ma's itinerary there.

Ma, a former KMT chairman who is standing trial for a corruption charge involving alleged misuse of a discretionary ''special allowance fund'' during his tenure as mayor of Taipei from 9986-2006, attaches great importance to his upcoming visit to India and Singapore as he looks forward to helping expand Taiwan's diplomatic frontiers, Ma's aides said.

UNI