The China Post news staff
Coming out of his one-hour meeting with Lee at Academia Sinica, Hsieh said they did not talk about the upcoming elections.
They only discussed energy issues, biotechnology and the "one-China" question, the DPP hopeful revealed.
Lee did not make comments on their talks. He walked Hsieh out of the compound of Taiwan's highest academic institution, and quickly went back inside.
The chemistry Nobel prize winner's open support for Chen in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election is thought to have buoyed the DPP campaign.
The much-revered scholar, who headed Academia Sinica, continued to show strong support for the DPP government during the first few years of Chen's presidency.
He was tipped to be a candidate for the premiership whenever there was a Cabinet reshuffle. He has represented Chen in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
But in recent years he has turned critical of Chen's policies.
While Lee has seldom made open remarks on politics, his position could still exert influence on voters.
"We didn't talk about the election," said Hsieh as he was asked whether Lee had given backing for his presidential campaign.
He said it would not be "good" to say he had received support from someone, coming out of a meeting with that person.
"This isn't good. I'm different from Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Ma Ying-jeou," said Hsieh, alleging that Ma would claim to have received the host's backing right after paying that person a visit.
But the United Evening News cited KMT sources as saying that Ma has no plans to play the "Lee card." The sources claimed that Lee has lost his credibility because of his previous support for the poorly performing DPP government.
On the one-China question, Hsieh cited Lee as saying that the idea of nations is losing its appeal, while a wider perspective of one world should be adopted to tackle global crises and promote international cooperation.