China foils Chen's trip to Indonesia

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was forced to cancel a trip to Indonesia because of pressure from China, according to Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟).

"It has been that way from the very beginning ... China always played a part," the official said. "The trip had been full of variables up to yesterday, but it has all changed now."

The official was the first to confirm media reports regarding a planned visit to Indonesia by the president. Officials on Saturday either denied knowledge or avoided questions about it.

According to a front-page story in the Jakarta Post on Saturday, Chen was scheduled to visit Indonesia tomorrow and meet Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

The newspaper said the sultan confirmed on Thursday that President Chen would lead a 90-member delegation of business leaders to Yogyakarta on Tuesday.

China immediately warned Jakarta that "it was not in the interest of Indonesia" to welcome the Taiwanese president.

A source in the presidential office said yesterday that Chen's trip was called off early yesterday morning because an agreement to keep it a secret was broken. The source added that the president would not be traveling abroad within the next two weeks.

The president, attending the funeral of presidential advisor Chen Kwei-hua (陳桂華), declined to comment when questioned about the issue.

The president reportedly held emergency meetings with Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and officials of the National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the media disclosed details of the trip.

Reports suggested Chen was advised to call off the trip for fear he would not be treated with respect once it had been exposed.

Nevertheless, Lu apparently wanted Chen to go regardless.

The vice president traveled to Indonesia in August, a trip arranged with the help of Kung Hai-jung (孔海榮), a Taiwanese lawyer in Indonesia.

Initially barred from entering Jakarta after the media exposed the trip, Lu managed to slip into Indonesia's capital city after a few days in Bali. In Jakarta, she met with present and former officials.

Joseph Wu (吳昭燮), deputy secretary-general of the presidential office, reportedly arranged the trip for Chen. Reports said Wu was in Indonesia last week to make final arrangements for the trip.

Kung was in Taiwan to attend the two-day preparatory meeting for the Democratic Pacific Assembly, a brainchild of Lu's to help the nation break its isolation in the Pacific Rim region.

The lawyer refused to comment on whether he had been involved in arranging Chen's visit to Indonesia, but said the change of plans was not because of the reports, but because of "the ill intentions of some people in the country."

He said the leak happened because "certain administrative departments failed to cooperate."