Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday denied claims that his proposed visit to Japan was politically motivated, saying he was only to receive medical examination in Japan for what he described as his "serious" heart condition.
"My application to go to Japan absolutely has no political agenda. I am no longer president. I am just an ordinary citizen. Some said my going there is politically motivated and this is absolute nonsense," Lee, 78, said yesterday afternoon.
Lee, breaking his silence on the issue since his application for a Japanese visa last week, pledged to push ahead with his visit.
Lee said President Chen Shui-bian (
"Here I am telling you this secret. President Chen told Yamashita that Japan-Taiwan ties could not possibly improve if Tokyo declined to give me the entry visa," Lee said.
Officials at the Presidential Office refused to confirm the meeting.
Lee also accused the Japanese government of succumbing to pressure from China, which has warned Japan against allowing Lee to visit, saying: "The guts of the Japanese government is as small as that of a mouse."
"China is fearful of me and thinks it's best to lock me [up] here in Taiwan. But I am not a president now, and I won't go there making any propaganda nor deliver any address. There is a proper time for delivering speeches, but this is not the time," he said.
Lee confirmed his application for a visa to visit Japan was made through his friend Peng Run-tzu (彭榮次), president of the Taiwan Transportation Machinery Corp (台灣輸送機械股份有限公司). "The application was filed on April 10. The Japanese government lied when it said we didn't apply," Lee said.
Seeking to dispel rumors that the seriousness of his heart ailment was exaggerated, Lee spent about 40 minutes explaining in detail his heart condition. Waving a tiny bottle of medicine called Nitrostat, Lee insisted he was suffering from a serious heart condition.
"I began taking this medicine the year before last year ... our security guard Mr Chang had the medicine, and my driver carried it, too," Lee said. "My life last year was like a nightmare."
Lee said he had been feeling tightness in his chest and labored breathing for the past two years. Although he underwent an operation on Nov. 6 to dilate narrowed arteries, he found it alarming to suffer constantly from palpitation, high blood pressure and low blood sugar levels.
Lee said he was required to receive a follow-up examination six months after his operation, and Mitsudo Kazuaki, a Japanese doctor who supervised the Taiwanese medical team which performed Lee's November operation, was the best candidate to conduct the examination. Kazuaki, currently working in Kurashiki City, Japan, produced a paper to endorse Lee's proposed medical examination at the hospital scheduled for April 24.
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