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Japan sets conditions for Lee visa

Demonstrators hold flags and placards during a protest in front of the Japanese foreign ministry in Tokyo yesterday demanding a visa for Taiwan's former president Lee Teng-hui. Most of the protesters were Japanese, while a few members of an overseas Taiwanese association also showed up. PHOTO: CHANG MAO-SEN, TAIPEI TIMES

Japan was likely to grant former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) a visa upon his agreement to three conditions regarding his stay in Japan, the Japanese-language daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported late yesterday evening.

Foreign Minister Yohei Kono visited outgoing Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori at Mori's residence yesterday evening. Emerging from his visit, Kono told reporters at around 9:30pm last night that Mori had instructed him to issue a visa to Lee if he complied with three conditions, the report said.

The conditions were: The site of Lee's visit would be limited to the specific hospital in Kurashiki City, Japan, where he planned to receive medical treatment; Lee would be granted leave to stay only for the duration of his medical treatment; and finally Lee would be forbidden to make any contact with Japanese political figures during his stay in Japan.

The report said that the foreign ministry was inclined to issue a visa to Lee following Mori's instructions late last night.

Mori's government is likely to make an official announcement on the visa decision this morning, according to a Taiwanese diplomat in Tokyo.

According to NHK's 10pm news broadcast yesterday, Kono said that Japan "needs to confirm whether the visit is only for medical treatment or not" before a visa can be granted. Kono also said the Prime Minister directed the foreign ministry to "immediately consider issuing the visa from a humanitarian standpoint."

Responding to the related reports from Japan, Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), Executive Yuan secretary-general, said the Japanese government's conditional granting of a visa to Lee "could be tolerated."

"If Japan finally makes such a decision [with the three conditions], then that decision is not satisfactory but can be tolerated," Chiou said late yesterday evening.'

Reports in Japan said Mori was eager to settle the matter before leaving office despite opposition from officials such as Kono.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said Japan was likely to accept Lee's request to visit Japan for a medical examination, but would ban him from engaging in any political activity in order to minimize the impact on Tokyo-Beijing ties.

Staffers at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan said they remained "optimistic" about Japan's final decision.

"I am 99 percent sure that Lee will be granted a visa," a Taiwanese diplomat at the representative office told the Taipei Times.

Kono told a parliamentary diplomacy and defense committee yesterday that his government had yet to come to a final decision, although "humanitarian concerns" remained a consideration in the government's final decision.

"It is unthinkable to ignore, or not to take into consideration the humanitarian aspect ... We are continuing our discussions from the point of view of our national interests, while considering various aspects, including our relations with China, Taiwan and humanitarian issues," Kono said.

Kono admitted for the first time that Lee's representative had submitted a visa application on April 10 to the head of the Interchange Association in Taipei, Japan's de facto embassy.

"But we did not regard it as a formal application," Kono said.

Dozens of Japanese and Japan-based Taiwanese protested in front of Japan's foreign ministry yesterday to urge the government to grant Lee a visa, said members of staff at Taipei's de facto embassy to Tokyo.

While China continued to pressure Japan not to issue a visa, Taiwan blasted China for its interference with Japan's decision.

Chinese foreign ministry spokes-woman Zhang Qiyue (章啟月) yesterday repeated a demand that Tokyo refuse Lee a visa to avoid damaging ties between Tokyo and Beijing.

"By visiting Japan, Lee is trying to split China and destroy Japan-China relations," Chen Jian (陳健), China's ambassador to Japan, said in a press conference yesterday afternoon.
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