Tokyo cowers under Beijing pressure

Former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) visa to visit Japan continued to hang in the balance yesterday as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said he would soon decide on the issue.

"We should make a decision from a humanitarian standpoint," the outgoing Japanese prime minister said yesterday after formally announcing his intention to step down. "But at the same time, we should take into consideration the international factors surrounding our country."

Japan had been expected to make the decision before Mori's press conference yesterday, but Mori postponed it after Foreign Minister Yohei Kono threatened to resign over the issue, Japanese media reported.

"We are still examining the issue, and hope to make a decision soon," Mori added.

Mori also said his government would make the decision free of outside pressure. But insiders said increasing pressure from China to sabotage Lee's visit, combined with Japan's fear of angering China, has led to the indecisiveness of the Japanese government on the issue.

"China has mobilized to lobby Japanese politicians with all its strength. Rumors in Tokyo said China threatened to recall its ambassador to Tokyo and to cancel a scheduled trip to Japan in May by [National People's Congress Chairman] Li Peng (李鵬) if a visa is granted to Lee," said Lai I-chung (賴怡忠), who is special assistant to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan.

"Some reports say that in return for Japanese obeisance on the issue, China would ignore Japan's move to keep out Chinese imports of cheap agricultural goods, and would be willing to turn a deaf ear to the recent dispute over controversial Japanese history textbooks. But China cannot tolerate the entry of Lee into Japan," Lai said.

Peng Tun-tzu (彭榮次), president of Taiwan Transportation Machinery Corp, who has helped with Lee's plan to visit Japan, echoed Lai's view.

"Many said that Japan was likely to issue Lee a visa since the day before yesterday. But then China's fierce protest over the following two days made Japan think twice about its decision," Peng told the Taipei Times.

Japanese reports also said Mori had delayed granting Lee a visa until Tokyo receives Lee's agreement to obey three conditions regarding his stay in Japan.

The conditions are: 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 allowed to stay only for the duration of his medical treatment; and Lee would be forbidden to make any contact with Japanese political figures during his visit.