Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) departed for Los Angeles yesterday on a 10-day visit to the US at the invitation of his alma mater, Cornell University.
The trip is likely to leave China's leaders seething and keep Beijing on high alert for any unexpected political outspokenness from Lee that could add to cross-strait tensions.
Six years ago, after then-president Lee made his first return trip to the university, China lobbed missiles toward Taiwan in protest of Lee's attempts to break the nation out of its diplomatic isolation.
But this time, analysts say, China is unlikely to respond to Lee's visit with sabre rattling.
"Lee's US visit will not create new tensions with China because he is no longer head of state," said Lee Kuo-hsiung (李國雄), a China-watcher with National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations.
The academic also noted that Lee restrained himself during his April trip to Japan for heart treatment and didn't make any statements to provoke China.
Deputy secretary-general to the president Chen Che-nan (陳哲男), Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and KMT Vice Chairman Huang Jeng-shyong (黃正雄) were at the airport to see Lee off yesterday.
Accompanied by his wife Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠) and 10 others in his entourage, Lee is due to arrive in the US today and fly to Ithaca, New York tomorrow to attend a welcome dinner banquet prepared by some 300 overseas Taiwanese.
On Wednesday, Lee is scheduled to attend the inauguration of the Lee Teng-hui Institute for Scientific Research, which was established in his honor at Cornell.
In addition, Lee will go on a private campus tour in the afternoon, joined by his granddaughter Huang Yi-ning (黃怡寧), a sophomore at the university, and meet university president Hunter Rawlings at a private dinner banquet.
Rawlings had originally proposed a round of golf with Lee for Thursday morning, which the former president has turned down, citing health concerns.
As Cornell plans to downplay Lee's trip, no public activities such as press conferences will be held to facilitate media coverage while he visits the university.
However, many speculated that Lee might still give a keynote speech at the Lee Teng-hui Professorship of World Affairs, which was founded with an anonymous donation of US$2.5 million from Lee's friends in 1994 to honor him.
Lee is expected to fly back to Los Angeles on Thursday, where he will pay a visit to his brother-in-law's family and depart for Taiwan on July 1.
While Lee's plan to set up a political group next month has triggered a heated debate domestically, national policy advisor to the president, Alice King (金美齡), yesterday expressed her support for Lee's political alliance with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
"This is a historical moment when Lee is willing to come out and join forces with Chen," King said after arriving in Taiwan yesterday. "This time, I believe Lee will help a lot of Taiwan people see through the fact that Taiwan has to separate from China."
Accompanied by senior advisor to the president Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) and DPP legislator Chou Ching-yu (周清玉), King then went on to attend a prayer gathering last night in Changhua County and campaigned for DPP legislative candidates.
RSS