Taiwanese officials yesterday either denied knowledge of or avoided questions regarding a reported visit to Indonesia by President Chen Shui-bian (
"The president will stay in Taiwan next Tuesday, next Wednesday, up until next Saturday," said Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office.
"If I am lying, my head will be cut off," Wu said.
Wu made the remark in front of the press yesterday afternoon in the wake of a Jakarta Post report that said Chen is scheduled to visit Indonesia Tuesday and meet with Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.
When asked by the Taipei Times later in the day as to whether the report has thwarted Chen's plan to visit Indonesia, Wu declined to comment.
Lin Shui-chi (林水吉), Taiwan's top representative to Indonesia, said he had no knowledge of any trip to Indonesia by the president.
"We have no idea of such a plan, at least the representative office has not received any notification," Lin told the Times by phone late yesterday afternoon.
When asked if the report by the Post would ruin Chen's trip, Lin said, "I don't think that will be the case."
Chen refused to comment on his reported visit to Indonesia when asked by the press to respond to the report.
The Post said the Sultan confirmed on Thursday that Taiwan's president would lead a 90-member delegation full of business representatives to arrive in Yogyakarta on Tuesday and hold a face-to-face meeting with him.
And Yogyakarta provincial secretary Bambang Priyohadi was quoted by AFP yesterday as confirming Chen's one-day visit.
Priyohadi said Chen "will come in his private capacity and he will only discuss business prospects" in Indonesia. He also said that Chen is scheduled to visit the ninth-century Borobudur Buddhist temple near Yogyakarta.
If Chen's visit takes place as scheduled, Taiwan will have its two most senior representatives visit Indonesia after a similar trip to the country in August by Vice President Annete Lu (
An Indonesian foreign ministry official was quoted by the AFP as saying that the ministry would not handle Chen's visit although Chen could visit Indonesia as a private citizen.
According to the Post, the Indonesian government on Friday rejected that Chen's planned visit "is being officially arranged."
"The government of Indonesia, having established no diplomatic relations with Chinese Taipei [Taiwan], does not expect any visit by any political figure from Chinese Taipei," the Post quoted an Indonesian foreign ministry official as saying.
However, the Indonesian government could not rule out that a "possible visit for individuals or tourist purposes could take place at any time as Indonesia never rules out possibilities for people-to-people contact with Chinese Taipei," the statement said.
The Post also said the governor in Central Java vowed to defy the prohibition by the Indonesian central government to dissuade ministers and high-ranking officials from meeting Chen and his delegation.
"I understand the central government's policy if I welcome Taiwan's president. But under such a situation, should we avoid delegates who want to invest in Yogyakarta," the Sultan said.
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