Report: Roxas meets with Taiwan president

Despite his refusal to apologize on behalf of the Philippines, former Senator Manuel Roxas II still managed to meet with Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou Tuesday morning. Taiwan Foreign Minister Timothy Yang said the meeting was a "diplomatic courtesy," Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) reported. The report did not give details about the meeting and did not mention a "second round" of talks that Roxas cited earlier in a radio interview Tuesday moning. The CNA report said Taiwan officials had said last week the meeting between Ma and Roxas would depend on the message the former senator brought, and the outcome of his meeting with Yang. Taiwan has repeatedly demanded a formal apology from Manila over its decision to deport 14 Taiwanese to Mainland China last Feb. 2. It also tightened requirements on Filipino workers wishing to seek employment in Taiwan and had recalled its envoy to the Philippines. But Roxas, President Benigno Aquino III's special envoy to Taiwan to iron out the kink, said he went to Taiwan to seek understanding and not to offer an apology. “I told them that seeking understanding is one thing, but seeking forgiveness is another. We in the Philippines did not want the incident to happen. But we also hope there will be no misunderstanding," he said in Filipino in an interview on dzXL early Tuesday. The Philippines observes a One-China Policy where it maintains diplomatic ties with Beijing, which it considers a province. The Philippines maintains economic ties with Taipei. — LBG/RSJ, GMA News