Cornell University would `welcome' Lee

A Cornell University spokesman said Thursday that the university has always welcomed former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to return to his old school anytime but added that there is no information concerning his proposed upcoming visit.

Linda Grace-Kobas, director of the Cornell University News Service, said that this year's school reunion is scheduled for June and that if Lee plans to visit the university, he should come before then.

She said that the school's long-standing stance of welcoming Lee to visit has not changed, but she pointed out that the university is not going to send an invitation to Lee. She added that it's up to the former president to decide to visit, and then if his visa application is approved, the university would be ready to welcome him at any time.

But she said that the university is unaware of whether Lee has applied for a visa and that they have no further information to confirm if he will visit Cornell in the near future.

Grace-Kobas pointed to Lee's visit to the school in 1995 when the State Department only notified the university after it had approved Lee's visa application, which she said happened only 12 days before the visit took place.

Judging from this, if Lee plans to visit Cornell University, the school will only be notified shortly beforehand, she added.

Concerning reports that Lee will present a large donation for the construction of a new building at the university, Grace-Kobas said that there is no building on the campus named after Lee.

Friends of the former president and Cornell University alumni donated US$2.5 million to establish a Lee Teng-hui Professor of World Affairs forum in 1994, but there have been no additional donations since then.