Taiwan to consider LNG purchase from Indonesia: VP

Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu said Sunday that Taiwan is in the market for large quantities of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and that it could be purchased from Indonesia, but that there has been no firm commitment made yet, Asia Pulse reported Monday.

Lu made the remarks at a news conference held after returning from a four-day visit to Indonesia Saturday night. Lu was the highest Republic of China official to set foot in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, in nearly 20 years.

Indonesia, which has ample LNG reserves, was anticipating a large order from mainland China to be settled just a few days before Lu's visit, but Beijing decided to give first priority in its purchases to Australia over Indonesia -- a move that sparked angry reactions from the government and the people of Indonesia.

Lu said that against this backdrop, Indonesia had displayed "goodwill and courage" to allow her to visit, referring to the tremendous pressure from mainland China on Indonesia to block Lu's entry into the country.

Local news reports had said that Indonesia, as well as several other countries, are interested in a 25-year contract to supply LNG worth NT$400 billion (US$11.79 billion) to a power station in Kuanying, Taoyuan County belonging to the Taiwan Power Company.

Lu said that Taiwan does in fact need large amounts of LNG, but she added that she had made no official agreement on the matter during her meetings with Indonesian officials.(*)