Media chase Lee Teng-hui around Osaka

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) found himself in the spotlight yesterday as supporters and the press hounded him as the 78-year-old toured Osaka for the first time since he studied in Japan roughly 50 years ago.

"These flowers are beautiful. But there are lots of people here and I can't really appreciate them," Lee said when taking a walk with his wife along the Okawa River in downtown Osaka yesterday morning, surrounded by about 200 reporters.

Reporters pushed and shoved each other along the narrow path, adding to the chaos of Lee's 20-minute walk by the riverside.

Despite the chaos, Lee's supporters from Japan, Taiwan and even China voiced their support for Taiwan's former leader.

Kenichi Suzuki, a middle-aged scientific researcher from Tokyo, summed up how the Japanese public regard Lee.

"I read his books .... He is a Taiwanese, but his heart loves Japanese, I feel. He is a de facto Japanese. He has this Japanese spirit -- of taking on new ventures and frontiers. Many Japanese no longer have this spirit, while he still has it. So the general public in Japan respect him," he said.

Shen Tsa-chin (沈彩琴), a Chinese who emigrated to Japan 15 years ago, carried her two-month-old baby girl to the riverside to get a closer look at Lee.

"He is a man of elegant style," Shen said. "And it's none of China's business [whether Lee visits Japan]. Many friends of mine think the same way."

China has protested vehemently that Lee was using the trip as an excuse to promote independence for Taiwan.

Japan-based painter Fang Chao-jan (方照然), who is of Taiwanese origin, presented Lee with a painting of cherry blossoms.

"I heard that the [former] president was coming to see cherry blossoms. But these flowers are no longer in blossom. So I came to give him this painting that I completed two weeks ago," Fang said.

Aside from Lee's admirers among the public, figures from Japanese political and literary circles also have welcomed Lee -- directly or indirectly -- since his arrival on Sunday.

Outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Japan's top government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda sent their best wishes to Lee by having flower baskets delivered to his hospital. On Sunday evening, conservative parliamentarian Yuriko Koike as well as right-wing writer Fuyuko Kamizaka visited Lee in his hotel room, sources said.

Yesterday evening, Lee attended a formal banquet presented by Toshio Goto, head of the semi-

official Interchange Association -- Japan's de facto diplomatic link with Taiwan -- but the function was closed to the media.