Confusion over Lee's Japan visa

An aide to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) denied yesterday a foreign ministry report that Lee had applied for a Japanese visa.

Su Chih-cheng (蘇志誠) said that he did not know why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Lee had submitted an application with the Taipei office of the Japan Interchange Association.

Earlier, ministry spokeswoman Catherine Chang (張小月) had called a press conference to confirm a report that Lee had presented his visa application and urged the Japanese government to grant Lee -- now a private citizen -- an entry visa.

Chang told reporters that the ministry called the press conference after getting confirmation from the ROC representative office in Tokyo that Lee had presented his application.

The sensitivity of a Lee visit to Japan was highlighted by the Japanese government's claim yesterday that Lee had not applied for a visa. "It has already been settled," top Japanese government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency in Tokyo yesterday.

Earlier yesterday, Japanese government sources said Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori had given his approval to issue the former Taiwan president a controversial visa. The sources also said Mori, who announced his resignation last week, wanted to settle the issue while still in office.

Also early yesterday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono told reporters that he had not heard that Lee had applied for a visa.

But Chang claimed yesterday evening that Lee applied for the visa yesterday morning so that he could receive treatment for heart problems in Japan. She also criticized the Japanese government for saying that Lee had not requested the document.

"We have expressed to the Japanese government through our representative office there that such comments are highly inappropriate," Chang said.

"Lee has retired. He's a civilian and he is eligible and has the right to visit Japan," she added.

But Sung Yuxi (孫玉璽), a spokesman from the Chinese foreign ministry, reiterated yesterday afternoon that China opposed visits by Lee to any country, saying Lee was a "splittist" seeking to thwart Beijing's goal of China-Taiwan unification. Chinese leaders have pressured Japan to deny Lee a visa for that reason.

Lee has been a longtime admirer of Japan. He speaks fluent Japanese and studied at Kyoto Imperial University, predecessor to Kyoto University. Taiwan was a Japanese colony during Lee's childhood and he has said that he felt more Japanese than Chinese during his boyhood.

Lee's recent efforts to travel to Japan, however, have been blocked by China, which fears that a visit to Japan could raise Taiwan's international profile.