Lee may not accept terms of Japan visa

Japan will issue a visa to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) upon his agreement to two conditions that limit the scale and activity of his visit to Japan. Lee however refused to sign the written agreement late yesterday evening, sources said.

Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted a source close to Lee as saying that Lee had refused to sign a pledge accepting the conditions.

"If forced to accept such humiliating demands, I would rather not go," the source quoted Lee as saying, according to Kyodo.

One insider, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times that Japan requested Lee to sign an agreement with regard to the two conditions, and that Lee had refused to do so as of 10pm yesterday.

"If the Japanese refuse to make any concession [on this issue], I believe he would rather not go," said an insider contacted by the Taipei Times.

"How could he possibly sign such a humiliating document," the insider added.

Related negotiations were still under way late yesterday evening, the insider added.

The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper and Japan Broadcasting Corp (NHK) as well as Jiji Press news agency reported yesterday that Japan would issue Lee a visa upon his agreement to the two conditions.

The first condition is that Lee's visit would be limited to Kurashiki City in western Japan, where the specific hospital Lee is due to receive medical treatment is located; and second, that Lee would refrain from conducting any political activity during his stay in Japan.

NHK said the Interchange Association in Taipei, Tokyo's de facto embassy to Taiwan, had been instructed by the foreign ministry to pass the proposal to Lee yesterday, a report which the source confirmed to the Taipei Times.

As of 10pm yesterday, Peng Run-tzu (彭榮次), president of the Taiwan Transportation Machinery Corp, who has helped with Lee's plan to visit Japan, was still busy conducting related negotiations with the Japanese side, the insider said.

Reports from Japan said that if Lee agreed to the conditions, the Japanese government would formally approve the visit today and issue the visa as soon as possible.

Japanese government officials, however, refused to confirm the reports.

At his 4pm regular press conference yesterday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said: "It's been processed by the foreign ministry."

An official at the Japanese foreign ministry told the Taipei Times in a telephone interview, however, "Unfortunately, I can't confirm the report."

Lee had planned to visit Japan beginning April 22. On April 24, the 78-year-old is scheduled to receive a medical checkup in Kurashiki City by Mitsudo Kazuaki, a Japanese doctor who last November in Taipei supervised Lee's surgery to dilate narrowed arteries.

China yesterday again urged Japan not to issue a visa to Lee. "The Chinese side firmly opposes Lee Teng-hui going to Japan in whatever capacity to engage in activities there," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue (章啟月) said at a routine briefing in Beijing.

Chinese Ambassador to Japan Chen Jian (陳健) met with Fukuda for one hour yesterday, expressing Beijing's concern over issuing the visa.